AREVA North America Projects - Monticello

Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant Integrated Contract

AREVA signed a unique integrated fuel and related services contract with Xcel Energy to supply Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant located near Monticello, Minn.

The approximately $500 million integrated contract covers uranium, conversion, enrichment, fuel design and fabrication, and related engineering services. It is the first such award by a U.S. nuclear utility to a fuel supplier in several decades.

A fully-integrated offer guarantees the supply of enriched uranium and fuel to the utility for the duration of the contract. The commitment taken by AREVA towards the customer is to deliver the complete fuel (including fissile material) required for reactor operation.

With the Xcel contract, AREVA’s responsibilities include the manufacturing of required products and managing associated services to deliver such finished fuel on time and according to agreed product quality.

In other cases of integrated offers, AREVA also supplies two or more of the Front End elements: uranium and conversion; conversion and enrichment; uranium, conversion and enrichment (LEU). Our capabilities throughout the fuel cycle enable us to tailor our integrated offer to fit the customer's needs.

The major benefit of an Integrated Offer for a utility is the advantage of AREVA’s unmatched capabilities through the complete fuel supply chain. Dealing with multiple suppliers and managing multiple contracts is reduced, e.g. AREVA manages the transportation of uranium products between the plants.

Customer
Customer - Xcel Energy

Plant site
Facility: Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant
Location: About three miles northwest of Monticello, Minn.
Design type
Reactor: Single unit boiling water reactor with an electrical output of 600 megawatts -- equal to the electricity needs of about 500,000 homes
Fuel: Reactor core holds 484 fuel assemblies
Monticello is among Xcel Energy’s lowest-cost sources of electricity generation on a per megawatt-hour basis, and it does not produce any greenhouse gas emissions.
Xcel Energy is a major U.S. utility operating in eight Midwestern and Western states, with a total generation capacity of 16,000 MW.
Contract

Xcel Contract

This integrated contract covers uranium, conversion services, enrichment services, fuel design and fabrication, and related engineering services.
Under the agreement, AREVA will provide six fuel reloads which corresponds to a decade of fuel supply, with deliveries beginning in 2015.
The contract includes transition of the Monticello plant to use AREVA’s innovative ATRIUM^TM 10XM boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel, which will be the first time Xcel Energy will use AREVA fuel in its plants.
Milestones
Project Milestones

January 2012 – AREVA and Xcel sign integrated offer contract
2015 – AREVA delivers first of six fuel supplies

ATRIUM 10XM Nuclear Fuel

Because of its increased fuel mass and superior critical power performance, the ATRIUM 10XM design delivers a significant fuel cycle cost advantage in 24-month cycles and extended power up-rate conditions, while maintaining the proven reliability of the current ATRIUM 10 product line.

Xcel Monticello Website

Monticello's output equals the electricity needs of 500,000 homes. Monticello is among Xcel Energy’s lowest-cost sources of generation on a per megawatt-hour basis, and it does not produce any greenhouse gas emissions.

Go to Xcel Monticello website