Advanced Nuclear Power - AREVA

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Nuclear FuelNuclear FuelJapanWith 51 plants (28 BWRs, 23 PWRs)totaling more than 44 GWe capacity,Japan's nuclear power program suppliesover 35 percent of the nation'selectricity demand. It is the thirdlargest nuclear program in the worldbehind only the US and France - andgrowing. Six new plants (totaling5.6 GWe) currently under construction,will increase Japan's installednuclear capacity to about 50 GWe.Japan has a domestic nuclear fuelindustry that introduced in the past,state-of-the-art advances in nuclearfuel technology from foreign suppliers.Framatome ANP has long-standingrelationships with Japan's utilities andfuel supply industry, and is playing anincreasing role as a supplier of bothBWR and PWR fuel technology.Long-term cooperation agreementsfor both PWR and BWR technologyhave been in place with theJapanese nuclear fuel manufacturer,Nuclear Fuel Industries (NFI), sincethe 1970s. NFI and Siemens, nowFramatome ANP, have worked togetheron design technology transfer, aswell as fuel fabrication subcontracting.NFI is the only Japanese nuclear fuelcompany that supplies both BWR andPWR fuel.In the early 1990s, a long-termcontract was executed with NFI forsupply of UF 6 to UO 2 conversionservices. This was later expanded andFramatome ANP is currently supplyingabout 250 tons of UO 2 powderannually to NFI.As part of long-term technicalcooperation agreements,Framatome ANP's and NFI's jointresearch and development efforts haveled to advances in fuel designs such asnew material types for high burnup. Inmany instances, lead tests wereconducted on these advanced fuels inreactors in Europe and the UnitedStates. In addition, Framatome ANPsupplies starting material for thefabrication of fuel cladding byJapanese suppliers as well as forresearch reactors.Tokyo Electric Power Companyfirst purchased Framatome ANP BWRfuel in 1995 for the Fukushima Dainiplant. This led to the supply of 9x9reloads to the Fukushima plant startingin 1999. Tokyo Electric Power, thelargest utility in Japan, operates 17BWR nuclear plants. Chubu ElectricPower Company signed a contractwith Framatome ANP in March 2001for supply of a 9x9 BWR fuel reloadto Hamaoka Unit 3 in 2002.The first PWR fuel to Japan wasdelivered in 1999 with the supply of16 High Thermal Performance (HTP)lead assemblies of 17x17 design toKansai Electric Power Company'sTakahama Unit 3.Japan's impressive nuclearprogram will continue to growdramatically. Japanese utilities andglobal suppliers such asFramatome ANP are working togetherto assure that Japan has access toadvanced nuclear technology. Japan'sreload nuclear fuel market, long suppliedonly by Japanese companies, is,at long last, opening to foreign suppliers.As a result, Framatome ANPhopes to increase nuclear fuel deliveriesto Japan in the coming years. @robust design that will enable troublefreereactor operations."To date, Framatome ANP hasdelivered 39 BWR fuel reloads toTaiwan Power - a total of over 6,000fuel assemblies containing more than1,000 metric tons of uranium.In addition to fuel reloads,Framatome ANP provides consultingservices to the Institute of NuclearEnergy Research (INER) on thedesign of the Taiwan Research Reactor(TRR) - II. Framatome ANP also suppliedspent-fuel storage racks to theMaanshan PWR plant.Although currently facing politicalopposition, nuclear power isexpected to play an increasing role inTaiwan's energy supply. The longstandingrelationship betweenTaiwan Power and Framatome ANPwill continue to support Taiwan'sgrowing nuclear power program.Fukishima Daini Fuel Inspection StandBELGIUMTihange 2 Receives PowerUprating ApprovalThe Belgium Safety Authority AVN(Association Vinçotte Nucléaire). gavefinal approval on April 27, 2001 to theElectrabel utility for the set of safetyanalyses and justification studies thatallow uprating the nominal core powerof the Tihange 2 nuclear power plant,located in Belgium, by 10%. Thisapproval is contingent upon the steamgenerator replacement scheduled forsummer 2001.An earlier power uprating of4.5% had been licensed in 1995 onthe basis of safety analyses performedby Tractebel Energy Engineering andFramatome ANP. This new programof analyses, associated with a fuel cycleextension of up to 18 months, wasawarded to Framatome ANP andTractebel in 1998. A complete reviewof the plant design basis wasperformed using advanced methodswhich were licensed through acontinuous process of discussions withthe client and the Belgian SafetyAuthority. In particular, successfullicensing of the heat flux correlationwhich significantly increasedNuke NotesDeparture from Nucleate Boiling(DNB) margins, and of the LargeBreak LOCA method using theadvanced Cathare thermal-hydrauliccode, contributed to the achievementof the ambitious objectives of theproject.Framatome ANP and TractebelEnergy Engineering have collaboratedon several projects includingcompatibility studies for Doel 4 andTihange 3 steam generator replacements,which were licensed in 1996and 1998 respectively.30 Advanced Nuclear Power 08/200108/2001 Advanced Nuclear Power 31
Nuke NotesNuke NotesBULGARIAFRANCEKozloduy 5 and 6to be ModernizedThe European Consortium Kozloduy(ECK), comprising Framatome ANPand the Russian company, Atomenergoexport,has been contracted toperform a comprehensive modernizationprogram at the VVER-1000Units 5 and 6 of Bulgaria's KozloduyNuclear Power Station. Through thismodernization program, which correspondsto the recommendations of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) for improving the safety ofVVER-1000-type reactors and is aprerequisite for Bulgaria's plannedentry into the European Union, theCHINALicensing of Framatome ANP’sFC-2000 DNB CorrelationThe Chinese National Nuclear SafetyAuthority (NNSA) has given genericapproval of Framatome ANP's heatflux correlation FC-2000 code whichis applicable to thermal-hydraulic coredesign calculations for AFA-2G andAFA-3G fuel assemblies with orwithout Mid Span Mixing Grids.This correlation, which was used forthe first time in an 18-month fuelcycle project for Daya Bay, significantlyincreases DNB (Departure fromNucleate Boiling) margins resulting inimproved fuel management; i.e.increases in cycle length increase orcore peaking factors.Framatome ANP and theirChinese partners, Guangdong NuclearPower Joint Venture CompanyLimited (GNPJVC) and NuclearPower Institute of China (NPIC), havebeen working since early 1999 todemonstrate the reliability of thisimproved correlation.Approval of the correlation is veryimportant for future Chinese projectsat Guangdong Nuclear Power 3 forwhich significant core margins arerequired to meet the EPRI requirementson thermal margins.two units will attain a safety level thatis in line with international safetystandards as well as a significantlyhigher plant availability. The modernizationproject will focus on improvinglong-term cooling of the reactor, radiationand fire protection, instrumentationand control, and emergencypower supply. The work is scheduledto be performed during the annualrefueling outages from 2002 to 2005.Prior to receipt of the main modernizationcontract, the ECK hadalready been working since 1998 -with strong involvement of local engineeringcompanies - on a so-calledBasic Engineering Project thatFINLANDAdditional ATRIUM 10 ReloadBatches for Olkiluoto 1A follow-up contract for the supply ofATRIUM 10 fuel assemblies for theBWR plant Olkiluoto 1 has beensigned by Framatome ANP and theplant operator, Teollisuuden VoimaOy (TVO). Three batches of 130 fuelassemblies each, including fuel channelswill be delivered between 2002and 2004. The 870-MWe plantOlkiluoto 1 was the world's first reactorwith a complete ATRIUM 10 coreand has been continuously suppliedincluded the elaboration of technicalsolutions, the preparation of licensingdocuments and the generation ofhardware supply specifications for themajority of the components to beupgraded.Framatome ANP already hadparticipated in the upgrading of twosmaller VVER-440/V213 units -Mochovce 1&2 in Slovakia - toWestern safety standards, togetherwith local Russian partners.Framatome ANP also received, inlate 2000, a letter of intent for thecompletion and safety upgrade oftwo Ukrainian VVER-1000 reactors;Rovno 4 and Khmelnitsky 2.with fuel by Framatome ANP (formerlySiemens) since 1983.ATRIUM fuel assemblies arebeing used in BWRs of the most variedtypes in Europe, Asia and the USTheir special characteristics helpreduce fuel cycle costs and improve theoperating economy of nuclear powerplants. While Framatome ANP nowhas ATRIUM 10 as its exclusive fueloffering for the European market, theATRIUM 9 product line also isincreasingly being replaced withATRIUM 10 in US BWRs.Signing the contract from Left to Right: Iikka Mikkola and Mauno Paovola (bothfrom TVO), Ralf Güldner and Heinrich Schumm (both from Framatome ANP)Cezus and WestinghouseAtom Sign ContractOn March 30, 2001, Cezus andWestinghouse Atom signed a contractfor the five-year supply of zirconiumstrips for manufacturing BWR fuelassembly grids and channels, and zirconiumbars for the fuel rod endplugs. These components will berespectively fabricated at the Cezusmanufacturing plants, Rugles andUgine, for delivery to WestinghouseAtom fuel factory in Vasteras, Sweden.Cezus, owned by FramatomeANP, is the world's leading supplier oftop-quality, semi-finished zirconiumproducts to nuclear tube and fuel producers.Cezus high quality productswill be transformed by WestinghouseAtom into spacer grids and channelsand fuel rod end caps. This new contractextends Cezus' cooperation withWestinghouse Atom.First-of-a-Kind Inspectionat PHENIXFor the first time, the visual remoteinspections of upper core supportstructures and fuel assembly heads inthe PHENIX fast breeder reactor,have been successfully completed byNovatome, a division ofFramatome ANP.This "turn-key" inspection operationran from March 10 to April 5,2001 and was accomplished by a teamincluding 28 technicians from severalunits of Framatome ANP: TechnicalCenter, Intercontrole, Cté Nordtestand Visionic. It was the culminationof two years of intensive preparation.Inspection inside the reactor vesselwas performed after partial drainingof 420 tons of primary sodium.Two visual inspection high precisionperiscopes and a lighting pole wereused. Welds, core support structures,core outlet instruments and the locationof the fuel assembly heads wereexamined. In spite of severe conditions(argon and sodium aerosol environment,strong irradiation and hightemperature), the equipment workedflawlessly.The success of this inspection is asignificant step towards re-startingPHENIX in 2002 to perform researchon the transmutation of long-liferadioactive waste.Excellent Performance ofM5 Alloy Fuel RodsThe M5 alloy material, used forcladding and structure ofFramatome ANP fuel assemblies, isthe key to reaching burnups andimproving operating margins.Irradiation experience feedbackhas revealed less corrosion,hydriding, and irradiationgrowth and creep providingmore reliable high performancefuel assemblies.Fuel rods made of M5ternary alloy (ZrNbO) havebeen examined recently, after6 cycles of irradiation in a900 MWe Electricité deFrance (EDF) reactor. Theachieved burnup was70 MWd/tU. The M5 alloy,with an oxide layer thicknesslower than 20 microns and afuel rod growth less than0.7%, demonstrated excellentperformance. A seventh cycleis in progress.At the beginning of 2001, the USNuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC), requested thatFramatome ANP demonstrate that thecriteria associated with the loss-ofcoolantaccident (LOCA) can beapplied conservatively to the M5. Thejustification has been made and onMarch 15, 2001, the NRC stated:"Framatome ANP has made aconvincing case showing that theapproved LOCA oxidation limit of17% and the peak cladding temperatureof 1204°C are appropriate forM5 cladding. We consider questionsregarding M5 post-LOCA embrittlementto be satisfactorily addressed."Core Baffle Bolts ReplacementFramatome ANP recently performedthe inspection and replacement of thereactor internal baffle bolts at Bugey 2(a first generation 900 MWe plant).Of a total of 960 bolts in the reactor,102 bolts were replaced.Framatome ANP has extensiveexperience in both the inspection andreplacement of internal baffle bolts.Since 1987, in the Siemens PWRplants in Germany, the Netherlandsand Switzerland, more than 10,000Baffle bolt inspectionbaffle bolts have been inspected andover 5,000 have been replaced. Otherinspections and/or replacements havebeen performed in Belgium(Tihange 1) and the US (Point Beach2, Ginna). In fact, Framatome ANPhas inspected over 26,000 bolts andreplaced approximately 6,000.Since problems with the reactorvessel internals bolts first surfaced inthe 1980s, enhancements to the boltsto prevent future stress corrosioncracking and reduced stress levels havebeen made. Inspection techniques alsohave been improved, saving criticalpath time.32 Advanced Nuclear Power 08/2001 08/2001 Advanced Nuclear Power 33
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Advanced Nuclear Power - AREVA

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