Framatome inaugurates chromium-coating facility

The new EUR30 million (USD33.5 million) facility implements an innovative chromium coating through a physical vapour coating process on the zirconium alloy cladding tubes that are used in nuclear fuel assemblies manufacturing. "This represents a major step towards industrial development of this technology, with a view to future commercial deployment," Framatome said.

Designed to reach a capacity of more than 100,000 chromium-coated tubes per year - a volume that can evolve with the technology's development - the facility will complete the industrialisation of the chromium-coating process and demonstrate its robustness under conditions representative of future series production. Industrial qualification of the process is planned by the end of 2026, with a target for production starting early 2027.

Accident tolerant fuel (ATF) is a term used to describe new technologies that enhance the safety and performance of nuclear fuel. ATF may incorporate the use of new materials and designs for cladding and fuel pellets. Three vendors - Framatome, GE Hitachi with GNF, and Westinghouse - are working with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop new fuels under its Accident Tolerant Fuel Program.

"With the inauguration of this industrial pilot at Paimboeuf, Framatome takes a new step in the development of its Protect E ATF technology," said Lionel Gaiffe, Senior Executive Vice President of Framatome's Fuel Business Unit. "After more than ten years of research and accumulated operational experience across six reactors globally, we are now getting ready for industrialisation. This illustrates our commitment to develop expertise and industrial capabilities in France needed to meet our customers' future needs and to support the evolution of nuclear energy worldwide."

The Paimboeuf site plays a crucial role in producing zirconium alloy components for fuel assemblies used by nuclear operators in France and worldwide. The site's teams are responsible, among others, for manufacturing the cladding tubes that form the first confinement barrier of nuclear fuel. Framatome said that integrating the chromium coating process "further enhances the site's industrial expertise and confirms its strategic role in the development of advanced nuclear fuel technologies".

"This new facility builds on the expertise that the Paimboeuf teams have been developing over several decades in the manufacture of zirconium components for nuclear fuel," said Damien Cholet, Framatome's Paimboeuf site manager. "It enables us to acquire a new, cutting edge industrial capability while preparing the site's future development steps. This project demonstrates the expertise, commitment and innovative capacity of our teams, who every day contribute to making Paimboeuf a strategic link within the nuclear fuel value chain."

Framatome's ATF technology

Developed by Framatome in collaboration with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the PROtect Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel technology combines chromium-coated zirconium alloy claddings as well as, upon request by the operators, uranium pellets enhanced with chromium oxide. Supported by the French Recovery Plan (France Relance) and the US DOE, Framatome's PROtect technology significantly enhances oxidation resistance, improves mechanical performance at high temperatures, and reduces hydrogen generation in the unlikely event of a loss of cooling systems.

The first fuel-rod irradiations in a reactor began in 2019 at the Gösgen plant in Switzerland and in the Vogtle plant in the USA. In 2021, the first complete PROtect E ATF fuel assembly was loaded at the Calvert Cliffs plant in the USA, and from 2023 as part of a joint program with EDF, four lead fuel assemblies were introduced in the French pressurised water reactor nuclear fleet.

In 2024, the technology achieved a major milestone by completing a third 18-month fuel cycle at the Vogtle plant in the USA, marking the first lifecycle of operation of the world's first full-length PROtect E ATF fuel rods. The same year, it became the world's first ATF technology to operate with full length fuel rods above 60 GWd/tU at the Gösgen plant in Switzerland.