CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 15, 2024--
Westinghouse Electric Company received the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval for an increase in the burnup limit for the Westinghouse Encore® fuel designs. This allows better nuclear fuel efficiency, longer times between reactor refuels and lower operating costs.
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United States Pressurized Water Reactors currently operate on 18-month fuel cycles, and this new higher burnup fuel will enable reductions in feed batch size, thereby improving fuel cycle economics. This is the first time nuclear fuel batch reloads in the United States will be able to exceed a burnup limit of 62 GWd/MTU, paving the way for a future extension to benefit utilities to operate economically on 24-month fuel cycles.
“We are very pleased to receive approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for incremental burnup in our nuclear fuel,” said Tarik Choho, Westinghouse President of Nuclear Fuel. “This milestone marks the start of production of nuclear fuel with increased capacity for Pressurized Water Reactors, vastly improving fuel costs for U.S. utility customers.”
The incremental burnup approval represents a key milestone for the Encore® Accident Tolerant Fuel Program, an initiative started in 2012 and funded by the Department of Energy, aimed at increasing performance and safety of nuclear reactors in support of U.S. energy security and climate goals.
Westinghouse is a leading supplier of nuclear fuel, providing a uniquely diversified portfolio in the industry across nuclear reactor types, including PWR, BWR, AGR and VVER. Through our world-class manufacturing facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden, we focus on delivering innovative fuel technologies to meet our customer needs for lower fuel cycle costs, increased operational flexibility and efficiency, diversity of supply and accident-tolerant products. Westinghouse is creating a center of excellence for Low Enriched Uranium Plus (LEU+) fuel manufacturing in South Carolina to reduce the number of outages needed in nuclear plants. Learn more about our advanced fuel capabilities and how they relate to different reactors around the world: Westinghouse Nuclear > Nuclear Fuel
Westinghouse Electric Company is shaping the future of carbon-free energy by providing safe, innovative nuclear and other clean power technologies and services globally. Westinghouse supplied the world’s first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 and the company’s technology is the basis for nearly one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. Over 135 years of innovation make Westinghouse the preferred partner for advanced technologies covering the complete nuclear energy life cycle. For more information, visit www.westinghousenuclear.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and X.
Westinghouse engineers developing core designs with higher (or incremental) burnup, which brings value to utility customers. (Photo: Business Wire)
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen put women in many of the top roles on her new team for her next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc on Tuesday, despite the reluctance of many EU member states to give in to her demand for gender parity.
Von der Leyen put only two men in her top echelon with four women as vice presidents, including Kaja Kallas as foreign policy chief. Kallas was already agreed on by government leaders.
Von der Leyen on Tuesday added Spanish Socialist Teresa Ribera to lead the green transition, along with Ribera also becoming the competition czar. Finland's Henna Virkkunen was her pick for rule of law and digital leader, and Roxana Minzatu of Romania for social affairs leader.
The appointments of the Commission team — which veers to the right after the June elections saw a surge of far-right parties — still have to be confirmed.
The appointment as executive vice president of Raffaele Fitto of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard right Brothers of Italy party is bound to cause controversy during the parliamentary confirmation hearing in the coming weeks.
Also on Tuesday, von der Leyen gave French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne the industrial portfolio, after French heavyweight Thierry Breton resigned and openly criticized the EU chief for allegedly “questionable governance” on Monday,
It left France with a strong voice in the Commission, and many saw Breton's shock resignation more as a removal by von der Leyen of one of her most open internal critics after exerting pressure on French authorities.
Compounding such problems was the defiance of many of the 27 member states as von der Leyen struggled to get anywhere close to gender parity on her Commission team — they staunchly refused to give her a choice between a male and a female candidate.
She said that originally, EU nations only proposed 22% female candidates before she started to push for more.
“So I worked with the member states and we were able to improve the balance to 40% women and 60% men. And it shows that — as much as we have achieved — there is still so much more work to do,” von der Leyen said.
If she could not get full gender parity in numbers, von der Leyen made sure they were more than well represented in the top jobs.
After days of secret talks with individual European governments about their picks, von der Leyen huddled with the leaders of the political groups at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, to discuss the makeup of her college before making the final announcement.
Now attention will center on the hearings in the European Parliament, where each candidate can be rejected to force a member state to put another candidate forward.
All eyes are expected to be on Fitto.
Greens lawmaker Rasmus Andresen said the appointment of Fitto, a representative of a far-right party, to the post of executive vice president of the Commission is “completely incomprehensible.”
“Can an anti-European manage EU funds,” Andresen asked.
However, von der Leyen said the Commission team had to reflect Italy's weight as a founding member and major economy.
"The importance of Italy is reflected in the portfolio and the executive vice president. And I think the balance is also very well kept,” von der Leyen said.
Even if the Commission's makeup has hardly become the talk of bar rooms or barber shops across the vast EU of 450 million people, it has enthralled the upper echelons of politics and bureaucracy, as they sought to boost one candidate or undermine another.
The Commission proposes legislation for the EU’s 27 member countries and ensures that the rules governing the world’s biggest trading bloc are respected. It’s made up of a College of Commissioners with a range of portfolios similar to those of government ministers, including agriculture, economic, competition, security and migration policy.
The Commission is to start work on Nov. 1, but speculation is rife that it might not get down to business before January.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new team for her next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc, during a press conference at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new team for her next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc, during a press conference at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new team for the next five-year, during a press conference at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives for a session at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new team for her next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc, during a press conference at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Strasbourg.(AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, talk prior to the start of a session at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, second right, speaks with from left, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi during a meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, on June 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
