GNF and Enusa extend nuclear fuel joint venture

07 February 2019

Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) and Spanish state-owned nuclear fuel manufacturer Enusa Industrias Avanzadas have signed an agreement to extend their GNF Enusa Nuclear Fuel SA (Genusa) joint venture for an additional six years.

A worker inspects a fuel assembly at the Juzbado fabrication plant (Image: Enusa)

Incorporated in 1996, Genusa manufactures and sells nuclear fuel and related services to boiling water reactor (BWR) operators across Europe.

"GNF is committed to the BWR market worldwide and we are pleased to continue to provide customers in Europe with state-of-the-art fuel technology and services by extending the Genusa joint venture," said Amir Vexler, CEO of GNF and president of the Genusa board of directors.

"Extending the Genusa joint venture with GNF is very important for Enusa because it provides stability to our relationship at a time when Genusa has the majority share of the European BWR fuel market," said Roberto González, business development and technology director at Enusa and member of the Genusa board of directors.

Last year, Genusa was awarded a contract by Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj to supply fuel reloads for Olkiluoto units 1 and 2, both 880 MWe BWRs. It was also contracted by Swedish utility Vattenfall to supply fuel assemblies for units 1 and 2 at the Forsmark plant. Fuel for these plants is being manufactured by Enusa at its Juzbado fuel fabrication facility in Spain.

GNF is a GE-led joint venture with Hitachi and operates primarily through Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Global Nuclear Fuel-Japan in Kurihama, Japan.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News