by Katherine Berezowskyj
Yesterday Japan’s Chugoku EPCo utility signed a contract for AREVA to supply 40 Mixed-Oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies for one of the reactors at the Shimane nuclear power plant located in the city of Matsue.
MOX fuel is a distinct blend of uranium and plutonium oxides, but is particularly interesting because the plutonium used in the fuel is recovered from used nuclear fuel and fabricated into MOX fuel at AREVA’s MELOX plant in southern France. AREVA has decades of experience fabricating MOX fuel assemblies that have been used for energy generation in several countries including the United States, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Japan.
And right now AREVA is in the process of bringing this recycling expertise to the United States. As Shaw AREVA MOX Services LLC, we are currently constructing the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. This Department of Energy project will be a facility that removes surplus weapons-grade plutonium and recycles it to make MOX fuel for use in nuclear reactors. When completed, the facility will have the capacity to take 3.5 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium and turn it into MOX fuel each year, providing the United States with important energy and non-proliferation benefits.
To find out more about the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility, click here.
Tags: AREVA Inc., AREVA North America, Chugoku EPCo, Department of Energy, Japan, MELOX, News, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Savannah River Site, Shaw AREVA MOX Services, South Carolina
