ROSATOM takes lead in global uranium enrichment services. Uranium enrichment and conversion are carried out at four separation and sublimation plants that are part of ROSATOM’s fuel company ‘TVEL’. Uranium enrichment is based on a cutting-edge cost-effective gas centrifuge process using 9th generation centrifuges with output 1.5 times greater than that of the 8th generation machines. Uranium enrichment services and enriched uranium are supplied through ‘TENEX’ to more than 30 utilities in 16 countries.
ROSATOM covers 17% of global nuclear fuel market. The company did not lose a single nuclear fuel supply bidding in 10 years. ROSATOM’s fuel company ‘TVEL’ fully satisfies the needs of all Russian nuclear power plants in nuclear fuel. Also, it supplies nuclear fuel to 78 (out of 440) power reactors operated in 15 (out of 30) countries. Hence, each sixth power reactor in the world runs on the fuel fabricated by ‘TVEL’. The company exports modified deformation-resistant fuel for VVER-440 and VVER-1000 reactors. Noteworthy are TVS-2M fuel assemblies devised for VVER-1000 reactors, which have very simple design; they are reliable and easy to maintain. There are cases of fuel component supply – for instance, fuel pellets for Sizewell NPP in the UK.
Many-year experience and expertise in development, manufacture and application of nuclear fuel in VVER-1000 reactors provided an input in development of a new fuel type – ‘TVS-KVADRAT’ (‘FA-SQUARE’) intended for PWR plants of Western design. In 2014, ‘TVEL’ fabricated a pilot batch of this fuel that was loaded, upon safety regulator authorisation, in a PWR run by a European company, for trial operation.
Apart from that, ‘TVEL’ fabricates fuel for domestic naval reactors, and for various research reactors of both Russian and non-Russian designs. Fuel is supplied to research reactors operated in 9 countries. In particular, the company manufactures seamless fuel pins with uranium fuel composite core surrounded by aluminium alloy claddings in periphery layers. These pins have different cross profiles, which allows configuring fuel assemblies with any performance characteristics.
