OREANDA-NEWS. September 23, 2014. AREVA has been awarded a contract by the U.S. utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to supply nuclear fuel to the three boiling water reactors at the Browns Ferry Nuclear plant in Alabama.

The scope of this contract worth approximately 190 million euros (USD250 million) includes nine nuclear fuel reloads of the ATRIUM™ 10XM design as well as the supply of core monitoring technology and related services. The fuel will be fabricated at AREVA’s Richland, Washington facility. The first delivery is expected to begin in 2017.

TVA will also have the option to later select AREVA’s next generation ATRIUM™ 11 design which is currently being introduced to the U.S. market. Already used by three European utilities, this fuel design has been developed to offer utilities a more economical fuel solution and greater flexibility in their operations.

“AREVA has supplied Browns Ferry with nuclear fuel over the past decade, and this new contract is recognition of the technological excellence and performance of our fuel,” said Guillaume Dureau, senior executive vice-president of AREVA’s Front End Business Group. “In order to continue our expansion on the international market, AREVA has developed a new fuel design, the ATRIUM™ 11, dedicated to boiling water reactors. We are able to offer our customers the most up-to-date solution to meet the ever-increasing safety standards of our industry.”