Under the contract, Areva will supply a total of four reloads of its Atrium fuel design for the reactors from 2016 to 2019.

TVO is planning to upgrade the boiling water reactor fuel design, Atrium 11, starting with use of the Atrium 10xm fuel assembly design, as early as 2018.

The fuel design, which is already used by three European utilities, offers improved economical performance and greater flexibility in operations.

Areva will manufacture the fuel assemblies at its Lingen manufacturing plant in Germany.

TVO nuclear safety senior vice president Marjo Mustonen said: "TVO´s power plant units are among the most reliable and have very high load factors.

"The quality of the fuel is very important to us, and I am confident that AREVA’s fuel products will also serve us well going forward."

Areva Front End Business Group senior executive vice president Guillaume Dureau said: "This contract demonstrates the quality of AREVA’s fuel design to meet the economical and operational needs of the nuclear operators."