Westinghouse Chosen To Fuel Three Vattenfall Reactors

Westinghouse Electric Company has announced that it has been selected by Vattenfall Nuclear Fuel AB in Sweden to provide replacement nuclear fuel deliveries and related engineering services for three of their reactors: Forsmark 3, Ringhals 3 and Ringhals 4. The contract includes yearly deliveries of fuel for the three reactors during a four-year period (2016 to 2019).

Under the terms of the contract, executed between Vattenfall Nuclear Fuel AB and Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, Westinghouse will produce the fuel at its facility in Vasteras, Sweden. Westinghouse has been one of the main fuel suppliers to the Forsmark and Ringhals nuclear power plants since 1973, having delivered nearly 12,000 fuel assemblies to the plants.

"This contract reflects Vattenfall Nuclear Fuel's continued confidence in Westinghouse as a high-quality supplier," said Johan Hallen, Westinghouse vice president and managing director, Northern Europe.

"The market for nuclear fuel assemblies is very competitive with suppliers from Germany, the U.S., Korea, Japan and Spain providing finished fuel to similar reactors. Vattenfall's commitment to Swedish engineering and manufacturing helps Westinghouse compete on a global scale, ensuring a strong domestic industry employing thousands in Sweden."

Forsmark 3 is a boiling water reactor designed and built by ASEA-ATOM, which was acquired by Westinghouse in 2000. Ringhals 3 and 4 both are pressurized water reactors, designed and built by Westinghouse.

Westinghouse is a single-source nuclear fuel provider for pressurized water reactors (PWRs), boiling water reactors (BWRs) and advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs) worldwide. Currently Westinghouse is fueling 145 PWR and BWR plants, and has ten nuclear fuel manufacturing locations around the world, including two sites in Europe: Springfields Fuels Limited (Preston, Lancashire, U.K.) and Westinghouse Electric Sweden (Vasteras, Sweden).