Vogtle-2 to test Westinghouse fuel enriched to 6 percent

摘要

Westinghouse Electric Company and Southern Nuclear have agreed to a plan to install four Westinghouse lead test assemblies in Vogtle-2, a 1,169-MWe pressurized water reactor located in Waynesboro, Ga. The test assemblies containing uranium enriched up to 6 percent uranium-235 will be loaded in 2023, marking the first time that fuel rods with uranium enriched above 5 percent U-235-the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's license limit-are put to use in a U.S. commercial power reactor. Uranium enriched to 6 percent falls within the 5 to 19.75 percent range for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), and within the 5 to 10 percent range termed LEU+. While HALEU enriched above 10 percent must be handled at an NRC-licensed Category I or Category Ⅱ fuel cycle facility, uranium below 10 percent enrichment can be handled at a Category Ⅲ facility.