Westinghouse Electric Company and nuclear plant operator Electricite de France (EDF) said Thursday they had signed a long-term contract for the U.S. firm to supply “several thousand tons” of reactor fuel to be used in French power facilities.
Westinghouse, under the terms of the deal, said it would manufacture the fuel at its facilities in Vasteras, Sweden, Springfields, U.K., and through the European Fuel Group at the Enusa plant in Juzbado, Spain.
The deal continues a fuel-supplying partnership that the two companies began in 2003 and relies on use of existing infrasructure. The new contract extends the deal between Westinghouse and EDF that concludes at the end of the year.
Westinghouse said the contract calls for the company to provide EDF with “a significant portion,” of its fuel needs.
Westinghouse has already delivered 6,000 fuel assemblies to EDF nuclear power plants in France.
Reliability and security were critical components of the contract, said Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel senior vice president Jose Emeterio Gutierrez.
Westinghouse, a Toshiba Corporation subsidiary, has 10 nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities, including two in Europe, Springfields Fuel Limited in Preston, Lancashire, U.K., and Westinghouse Electric Sweden in Vasteras.