Facility fabricates uranium fuel for pressurized and boiling water reactors
– By stephen Heiser –
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted AREVA's Richland, Wash., fuel fabrication facility a 40-year, 10 CFR Part 70, license renewal. The facility is also celebrating its 40-year operating anniversary this year.
"Richland has fueled more than a generation of nuclear power plants, and we're all proud of our employees for this major accomplishment," said Mike Rencheck, President and CEO of AREVA NP Inc. "Our fuel operations bring the best available AREVA NP global practices and technologies to the U.S. market, and our goal is to support our customers with fuel that is reliable and meets high performance standards."
"In granting a renewed 40-year site license, the NRC demonstrates its acceptance of our operational excellence and its confidence in our people," said Ron Land, AREVA NP Inc. Vice President Fuel Sector. "Our employees take great pride in achieving license renewal."
The license covers the full range of the site's safety programs for special nuclear materials handling processes, including criticality safety, fire protection and emergency preparedness. In addition to providing the NRC with documentation and responding to information requests, the review process involved site visits and reviews by local, state and federal stakeholders.
The Richland facility fabricates uranium fuel for pressurized and boiling water reactors and creates new fuel designs to accommodate the higher demands of today's operating environments and new Generation III-plus plants, such as AREVA's advanced 1,600 MWe net EPR design. Fuel manufactured in Richland supplies the energy that generates five percent of the electricity consumed in this country. The U.S.A. gets approximately 20 percent of its electricity from CO2-free nuclear energy.