Framatome 100% E-ATF assembly completes second 48-month cycle

Framatome announced its industry-first, 100% PROtect E-ATF lead fuel assembly completed a second 24-month cycle (48 months total) of in-reactor operation and inspection in a U.S. nuclear power plant.

• Main announcement: The 100% E-ATF lead fuel assembly (LFA) containing 176 chromium-coated rods and chromia-enhanced pellets was inserted during the 2021 spring refueling outage, inspected after its first 24-month cycle in 2023 and again after its second 24-month cycle in 2025, and will complete its third 24-month cycle in spring 2027; the PROtect program development was supported by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding and the LFA was fabricated at Framatome’s Richland, Washington facility under a 2019 contract.
• Background and technical details: The E-ATF is built on prior irradiation campaigns in the U.S. and Switzerland; Framatome’s PROtect chromium-coated cladding and chromia-enhanced pellets reduce oxidation and hydrogen production under high-temperature conditions, providing additional safety margins and enabling potential power uprates or longer operating cycles; the Richland facility was modernized to produce chromia-enhanced pellets at industrial scale, and these pellets are now standard in ATRIUM 11 BWR reloads operating at eight U.S. commercial power plants.