Framatome announced this week it had signed a contract to provide fuel fabrication and related services to Unit 2 at Palo Verde Generating Station near Phoenix, Arizona.
Arizona Public Service (APS) operates and owns 29.1 percent of Palo Verde, the largest power producer in the U.S. The first reload of Framatome fuel will be delivered in the spring of 2020.
This is the first time Framatome will supply full reload quantities of fuel to the Combustion Engineering-designed Palo Verde. Unit 2 will use Framatome’s Advanced CE16 HTP fuel design. In 2008, Framatome noted, it supplied eight Lead Test Assemblies to Palo Verde.
APS recently completed and submitted the License Amendment Request (LAR) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to request approval to use Framatome’s fuel in reload quantities at Palo Verde. The initial reload from Framatome is planned for Unit 2 in the spring of 2020.
The Palo Verde Generating Station’s three pressurized water reactors, each with a net capacity to produce 1,411megawatts of electricity, provide more than 70 percent of Arizona’s clean air energy. Being the only U.S. nuclear plant not located on a body of water, Palo Verde Generating Station recycles municipal wastewater from Phoenix to cool the plant. Each year, the plant provides enough power to meet the needs of more than 4 million people across four states.