Shipment of New Fuel Received at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station Reactor No. 3 (Notice)

Chubu Electric's Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, Reactor No. 3 (boiling water reactor; rated electric output: 1,100 MW) has received a new fuel shipment, as per the details provided below.

 

Details

1. Period of transport  

August 30, 2010 (Mon)* - September 14, 2010 (Tue)

* Scheduled date of commencement of shipment from the U.S. (local time)

2. Route of shipment

AREVA NP, Inc. - Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station

(Richland, Washington State, U.S.)

3. Quantity shipped

New fuel assemblies (Uranium fuel): 72 (9×9 fuel rod arrays (Type B))
(in 36 shipping containers)

4. Mode of transport

Sea and land transport (9 trucks employed for land transport in Japan)

 

 

9×9 fuel rod arrays

Depending on the manufacturer, both Type A and Type B 9×9 fuel rod arrays exist. The design and form of Types A and B are different, but their fuel performance is identical.

Specifications for the type B fuel (for use in Reactor No. 3) transported in this shipment are as follows:

	9×9 fuel (B type)
Fuel rod arrangement	9 rows and 9 columns
Number of fuel rods	72
Maximum burnup (Calorific value per ton of uranium)	55 GWd/t
Average enrichment (Ratio of U235 to total mass of U in fuel assemblies)	Approx. 3.8 wt%
Number of water channels	1 (rectangular pipe-type) (equivalent to 9 fuel rods)

 Overview of shipping containers used for this shipment

Type (Number shipped)	NT-IV-type shipping containers (36 units)
Owner of shipping containers	Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd.
Material	Mild steel
Weight of shipping containers*1	Approx. 1,100 kg
Length	Approx. 530 cm
Width	Approx. 83 cm
Height	Approx. 82 cm

*1: Mass without fuel assemblies

The shipping containers were designed to withstand even the severe conditions stipulated by national technical standards, including dropping from a height of 9 meters or being exposed to a temperature of 800°C for 30 minutes.

New fuel transportation recor

Up to the present, Chubu Electric has transported a total of 14,799 assemblies of new fuel in 102 shipments, including this shipment, for Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, Reactor Nos. 1-5.

(Breakdown)

Unit	Number of shipments	Number of units transported
Reactor No. 1	28	2,390
Reactor No. 2	29	3,659
Reactor No. 3	26	4,208
Reactor No. 4	17*2	3,100*2
Reactor No. 5	7	1,442
Total	107(102)*3	14,799

* 2: Includes shipment of MOX fuel (one shipment, 28 units).

* 3: The total number of times fuel has been transported to Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station is 102 (the figure in parentheses) because some shipments were made for two reactors simultaneously (for Nos. 1 and 2, Nos. 1 and 3, Nos. 1 and 4 (two times), and Nos. 2 and 5).