P14 - Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB (WH SE) | Sweden

Westinghouse, WH, develops and manufactures nuclear fuels and related products for commercial light water reactors (LWRs). This includes hardware (e.g., fuel assemblies) as well as the associated software (e.g., codes supporting the loading and operation of a reactor core). WH is one of the three industrial actors in that European business segment and one of the top-two players. Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, WH SE (http://www.westinhousenuclear.com/sweden), has been active in the nuclear energy field since the late 1960´s, then under the name of “ASEA Atom”, with roots extending back to the 1940´s. WH SE has built the existing boiling water reactor (BWR) fleet in Sweden and Finland, and delivers nuclear fuel and components to customers all over the world. WH SE is a member of the global Westinghouse nuclear group, the majority of which is currently owned by Toshiba, Japan.

The WH fuel development is based on the state-of-knowledge in the areas of zirconium alloys (zircaloys) and uranium ceramics and it is actively engaged in expanding the technological/scientific frontier of such and similar materials for future-generation fuels. These activities include numerous collaborative projects with Universities and other Research Institutes in Sweden, Norway, UK, France, Switzerland and Germany. WH SE has prior experience of collaborating in the framework of European projects, e.g., in FP5 Sirena and FP7 ASGARD.

Accident-tolerant fuels (ATFs) for LWRs is a rapidly expanding research field. WH is active in this field, in particular in the ATF projects sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The aim of the US DOE projects is to define, develop and test hypothetical accident-tolerant fuel types. IL TROVATORE represents a collaborative effort to initiate ATF research and development from a European perspective, in particular to assess and advance ongoing research with respect to the fuel licensing frameworks that exist in different European countries. Since WH is a commercial manufacturer of nuclear fuel with a broad and proactive R&D activity, it is uniquely positioned to provide the industrial perspective to IL TROVATORE, helping to balance the visions with the practical/commercial points of view. In addition, WH will provide the IL TROVATORE project with input from the efforts in the USA, allowing the project to leverage existing scientific, economic and technological analyses. WH will be particularly involved in the licensing, economics and practical concept selection and design areas of IL TROVATORE, and will also guide the efforts aiming at the exploitation of the project results (WP11).