MHI Fuel Assemblies For Ikata Nuclear Power Station
MHI Receives Order To Supply 24 MOX Fuel Assemblies For Unit 3 Of The Ikata Nuclear Power Station, Enabling Shikoku To Utilize Plutonium Extracted By Reprocessing Spent Fuel
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) has received an order from Shikoku Electric Power Co. Inc. (Shikoku) to supply 24 MOX fuel assemblies for Unit 3 of the Ikata Nuclear Power Station, subsequent to the order received in October from Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc. for Unit 3 of the Genkai Nuclear Power Station. MOX (Mixed Oxide Fuel) is nuclear fuel made of plutonium extracted by reprocessing of spent fuel and uranium.
Under this contract, MHI will perform the design of MOX fuel and have components such as cladding tubes manufactured by Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co. Ltd. (MHI Group) provided to Orano, who will fabricate MOX fuel assemblies at its MELOX plant in France.
MHI has previously supplied 57 MOX fuel assemblies to Japanese utilities and will supply high-quality MOX fuel by leveraging its past experience and technical capability. MOX fuel will enable Shikoku to utilize plutonium extracted by reprocessing spent fuel, and MHI will contribute to steady promotion of Shikoku’s “Plu-Thermal” plan through the supply of MOX fuel. The “Plu-Thermal” plan is to utilize MOX fuel in light water reactors.
