Framatome ANP - AREVA

Innovation & TechonologyThe GAIA Project: Meetingthe Needs of the FutureFramatome ANP’s new fuelproject, aimed at developinga more reliable, environmentallyfriendlyfuel product, borrows itsname from Gaia, the Earth Motherof ancient Greek mythology. GAIAis also an acronym for the Generationof Advanced Innovative Assembly,which the company plans to deliverto its utility customers by 2015.Anticipating customer expectationsis the watchword of GAIA. An initialteam was set up two years ago to laythe groundwork for the long-termproject directed by the Fuel Segment.Customers were asked to contributeby identifying their needs in 70interviews conducted in Belgium,France, Germany, Spain, South Africa,Sweden and the US. Utilities were themain survey participants, but thestudy also included designers,manufacturers, safety authorities,and groups concerned with research,the back-end of the fuel cycle andtransportation. The strengths andweaknesses of current products werecompared and a detailed analysisof the competition was carried out.The results were collated andcombined into a Market RequirementsDocument, which was thensubmitted to customers in 2002to get their feedback.For Framatome ANP, the strategicobjective is to increase market shareand profitability by allowing utilitycustomers to cut costs in an increasinglycompetitive market. “Our goal,in addition to the present increaseof burn-up and the optimizationof the fissible material utilization, is tofocus on the fuel assembly robustnessand reliability. The new design alsotakes into account the manufacturingissue at the beginning of the designwork,” notes core team memberAnne Kocher. “This new fuel assemblyalso will address the flexibility needsof the utilities, their potential poweruprate and performance needsfor long cycles.”The core team, located in Lyon,is made up of members from allthree regions of the company: France,Germany and the US. Their jobis first to oversee the conceptual andpreliminary design phase. This stageinvolves selecting and coordinatingspecific innovation teams chosenfor their creativity, finding waysto stimulate their imaginative skillsand guiding the brainstormingprocess. During the final design phase,the core team will be in chargeof developing a design formanufacturing and obtainingcustomer approval. Lead testassemblies are scheduled forproduction and delivery by 2008.“GAIA is truly a flagship project,”says Anne Kocher. “It will enableFramatome ANP to create close tiesamong our three regions, takeadvantage of the experience each onehas to offer and prepare the futuretogether. The challenge is to developan innovative spirit in the traditionalfield of fuel, and associate ourcustomers not only in developingthe new concept but in providingadditional feedback at later stages.This project will be sowing manyseeds and it will be exciting to helpthem grow.” ■20 Advanced Nuclear Power N O 7 April 2003