OREANDA-NEWS. December 03, 2015. AREVA Inc. has signed a contract to manufacture fuel assemblies for NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR). Under this agreement, AREVA will supply the initial cores for the reactors as well as subsequent reloads.

AREVA’s HTPTM fuel assemblies have been designed for use in the SMR advanced pressurized water reactor currently under development. Mechanical and thermal hydraulic testing of these new fuel assemblies are underway as part of NuScale’s 50MWe SMR design certification application, which is planned for submission to the NRC in 2016.

“AREVA continues to provide critical support to NuScale as we bring our groundbreaking small modular reactor design to the market,” said Dale Atkinson, NuScale’s chief operating officer and chief nuclear officer. “As a result of this latest agreement, NuScale will be offering our customers nuclear fuel fabricated by AREVA, a firm with a strong reputation of excellence in fuel fabrication.”

“At AREVA, our customers’ needs are a fundamental driver for innovation,” said Olivier Wantz, senior executive vice president of AREVA’s Mining and Front End activities. “We are proud to utilize our teams’ expertise, decades of experience and focus on operational excellence to support NuScale in its work in the development of new nuclear technology.”

AREVA has extensive experience in designing, licensing and manufacturing fuel for utilities worldwide. The company has a proven track record in the development and commercialization of new and innovative products.