Westinghouse Electric Company has announced that Arizona Public Service (APS) Company signed a $250 million contract with Westinghouse for fabricating and delivering its newest fuel product for the Combustion Engineering (CE) pressurized water reactor (PWR) fleet.

The contract is an extension with Westinghouse to continue fabricating and delivering fuel to three reactors that APS operates at its Palo Verde site in Wintersburg, Ariz. A new component to the contract includes the transition engineering and licensing required to deploy the new fuel design.

The Westinghouse next generation fuel (NGF), called CE16NGFTM, incorporates proprietary materials, such as advanced cladding material and burnable absorbers, and advances in structural design that improve the fuel's efficiency and reliability while also increasing its service life.

CE16NGF provides improved economic performance and greater operational flexibility in fuel duty, thermal margin and uprate capability. The fuel has operated very successfully in two other CE 16 x16 units in the United States to date.

"This contract extension represents a confidence in Westinghouse not only to continue delivering high-performing fuel, but faith in our ability to develop first-of-a-kind products. I am pleased to continue our relationship with APS and this fuel delivery is one important component of our long-standing relationship," Mark Marano, Westinghouse Americas president said.

APS Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Randy Edington, stated, "APS has been an industry leader in many areas in nuclear and we take pride in demanding high performance. We proactively make safety and performance improvements regularly; installing the newest Westinghouse CE fuel in our reactors is one reflection of that practice."

Westinghouse leads the industry in fuel reliability with leak-free fuel status of nearly 97 percent during the past two years globally.

Westinghouse today provides nuclear fuel to 145 plants globally, 55 of which are in the U.S. These plants are supported by Westinghouse's 10 global nuclear fuel manufacturing locations, including three U.S. sites. Westinghouse is a single-source global nuclear fuel provider for PWRs, including Russian-designed VVER reactors, as well as BWRs and advanced gas-cooled reactors.