GE Vernova’s Nuclear Fuel business receives regulatory approval to manufacture higher enrichment fuel

WILMINGTON, North Carolina: February 14, 2024 — GE Vernova’s Nuclear Fuel business, Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF), today announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to manufacture, ship and analyze the performance of nuclear fuel with Uranium-235 enrichments of up to 8 weight percent.

“These regulatory milestones build on our long history of designing and fabricating fuel for the nuclear industry,” said Mike Chilton, Executive Vice President, GNF. “We will continue to innovate to help our customers run their plants even more efficiently and be ready to support the next generation of reactor technology with reliable, flexible fuel products as the industry progresses to the use of higher enrichments.”

With the latest NRC approval of GNF’s fuel fabrication license amendment, the company’s manufacturing facility in Wilmington, NC is the first commercial facility in the U.S. to hold a license to fabricate fuel enrichments up to 8 weight percent. The NRC has issued a Certificate of Compliance allowing GNF to ship nuclear fuel bundles up to 8 weight percent utilizing the company’s RAJ-II shipping container. The NRC has also approved licensing topical reports for advanced nuclear methods that enable GNF to analyze fuel with enrichments greater than 5 weight percent.

These approvals were made possible in part by work GNF and GE Vernova’s Advanced Research business have conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) Program. GNF is developing and deploying fuel technologies with enhanced accident tolerance and operational flexibility while enabling sustained economic performance by improving bundle efficiency.

Higher enrichment fuels are anticipated to improve nuclear fuel cycle economics including through power uprates for existing boiling water reactors and also for the next generation of reactor technology including advanced and small modular reactors.

###

About GE Vernova
GE Vernova is a planned, purpose-built global energy company that includes Power, Wind, and Electrification businesses and is supported by its accelerator businesses of Advanced Research, Consulting Services, and Financial Services. Building on over 130 years of experience tackling the world’s challenges, GE Vernova is uniquely positioned to help lead the energy transition by continuing to electrify the world while simultaneously working to decarbonize it. GE Vernova helps customers power economies and deliver electricity that is vital to health, safety, security, and improved quality of life. GE Vernova is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., with more than 80,000 employees across 100+ countries around the world. GE Vernova’s Nuclear Power business, through its global alliance with Hitachi, is a world-leading provider of nuclear fuel bundles, services, and advanced nuclear reactor designs. Technologies include boiling water reactors and small modular reactors, such as the BWRX-300, which is one of the simplest, yet most innovative boiling water reactor designs. GE Vernova’s Nuclear fuel business, Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF), is a world-leading supplier of boiling water reactor fuel and fuel-related engineering services. GNF is a GE Vernova-led joint venture with Hitachi, Ltd. and operates primarily through Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, LLC in Wilmington, N.C., and Global Nuclear Fuel-Japan Co., Ltd. in Kurihama, Japan.

GE Vernova’s mission is embedded in its name – it retains its legacy, “GE,” as an enduring and hard-earned badge of quality and ingenuity. “Ver” / “verde” signal Earth’s verdant and lush ecosystems. “Nova,” from the Latin “novus,” nods to a new, innovative era of lower carbon energy. Supported by the Company Purpose, The Energy to Change the World, GE Vernova will help deliver a more affordable, reliable, sustainable, and secure energy future. Learn more: GE Vernova and LinkedIn.

For media inquiries, please contact:

business unit