United States: AREVA Delivers Next-Generation GAIA Pressurized Water Reactor Fuel

AREVA has completed the first delivery to an American utility of the lead test assemblies for its next-generation pressurized water reactor fuel design GAIA.

AREVA’s GAIA fuel is the result of a global research and development effort to meet the ever increasing demands of utilities in terms of safety, reliability and robustness. Advancements include better thermal performance, intrinsic tolerance to earthquakes, and enhanced mechanical behavior.

“This delivery is an important step in the deployment in the U.S. market of GAIA, an innovative solution that provides an answer to some of the operational and economic challenges faced by our customers,” said Marc Chevrel, executive vice president of AREVA’s Fuel Business Line. “This is a major success for AREVA’s research and development teams.”

In France, EDF and AREVA are working towards the qualification of GAIA with the short-term objective of loading lead test assemblies into an EDF reactor.