The first batch of Westinghouse Electric Company VVER-440 fuel was loaded into Fortum’s Loviisa NPP during its annual outage in August. The Loviisa plant comprises two Soviet-designed VVER-440 reactors and currently provides more than 10% of Finland’s electricity. Loviisa unit 1 began commercial operation in 1977 and unit 2 in 1981. The plant has been using fuel supplied by Russia’s TVEL since 2007. However, European Union policy is currently focused on diversifying away from Russian supplied fuel.
In November 2022, Fortum Power & Heat Oy signed an agreement with Westinghouse for the design, licensing and supply of a new fuel type for Loviisa. During the annual outages in 2023, one test element manufactured by Westinghouse, which did not contain actual uranium pellets, was loaded into unit 2. The test element was used to obtain mechanical operating experience of the new fuel type. Plant owner-operator Fortum said that, in this year’s annual outages, the test element was found to have worked as expected.
“The safe and reliable operation of our Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant is crucial for Finland’s security of supply. Our customers depend on the stable and clean electricity we produce in Loviisa with high availability. Diversifying the power plant’s fuel supply has been a priority for us over the past two years, and we are delighted to have reached this significant milestone together with Westinghouse,” said Petra Lundström, Executive Vice President, Nuclear Generation at Fortum.
Finland’s Fortum Power & Heat Oy at the end of 2023 submitted a report on future fuel procurement for the Loviisa NPP to the Ministry of Labour & Trade. This was one of the permit conditions imposed when the government granted Fortum’s two Loviisa units to operate until the end of 2050. The purpose of the permit condition was to ensure that the fuel supply for Loviisa would no longer rely solely on the TVEL.
Loviisa NPP had initially received fuel from Russia. In 1996-98 a fuel assembly design – NOVA E-3 (fixed assembly) and NOVCA (follower) – was developed in a programme involving BNFL (UK), IVO (Finland) and PAKS (Hungary). In June 1998, the manufacture of five Lead Test Assemblies at Springfields in the UK was completed, and the fuel was delivered to Loviisa 2. In 1999, BNFL purchased Westinghouse Electric and between 2001 and 2007, BNFL/Westinghouse delivered a total of 741 VVER-440 fuel assemblies to Loviisa, which were manufactured by Enusa in Spain.
The NOVA E-3 and NOVCA designs were integrated into the Westinghouse fuel product portfolio, and all the intellectual property for the VVER-440 fuel was transferred from BNFL to Westinghouse in 2005-2006. However, in 2007 Loviisa decided to switch back to Russian fuel. After failing to extend the Loviisa fuel contract and failing to win any other VVER-440 delivery contracts, Westinghouse decided to withdraw from the market in 2008, and closed down the supply chain and development of the VVER-440 design.
Then, in 2014, reactivation of the VVER-440 market was reconsidered in view of the demand for increased security of energy supply in Europe. Westinghouse, in a consortium comprising nine organisations, applied for a Euratom funded programme for diversification of the VVER fuel market in Europe, and was granted €2m in 2015. In September 2022, Westinghouse and Enusa Industrias Avanzadas announced their intention to collaborate on VVER-440 fuel fabrication with the aim of delivering a Western alternative to Russian fuel in the European market.
Loviisa’s current fuel agreement with TVEL is valid until the end of the current operating licences of the plants two units in 2027 and 2030. In spring 2022, Fortum applied for a new operating licence for both units until 2050 and announced that a tendering process would be arranged for fuel supply for the next operating licence period.
According to its report to the Ministry, Fortum will tender for fuel production after 2027/2030. Meanwhile the agreement with Westinghouse and the fresh TVEL fuel in stock will ensure Loviisa’s fuel supply. In addition, Fortum announced that it is investigating the possibilities of another Western fuel supplier developing VVER-440 fuel in order to improve the security of fuel supply and strengthen competition.
“The loading of the new fuel is a key diversification milestone for Fortum that guarantees a dependable Western alternative for fuel supply in Finland,” Westinghouse said.
