TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM incorporates a metallurgical facilitiewhich produce zirconium, titanium, calcium, hafnium and niobium items for high-technology industries. JSC Chepetsky Mechanical Plant (JSC CMP) is a modern metallurgical full-cycle complex: from mixing and ingot smelting to end products, such as tubes, bars, weld and spring wires. The company’s quality management system has been certified by the international body TÜV Thüringen e.V. for compliance with the international standard ISO 9001.
Chepetsky Mechanical Plant is Russia’s only producer of items of zirconium and its alloys. The plant provides the full production cycle: from processing of ore concentrate to zirconium alloy products. Zirconium is widely used in nuclear industry as nuclear fuel cladding, and non-ferrous and special metallurgy alloying element, a component of thermal isolation in aviation and space rocket engineering, power installations and technical ceramics as well as medicine. Having high robustness to biological media, zirconium is used for building bone, arthral and dental prostheses, and surgery tools.
JSC CMP also has launched modern broad titanium production from ingots to the end product. It has mastered titanium products for Russian shipbuilding, aviation, power machine engineering and other high-technology industries. The basis and pride of the titanium trend of the Fuel Company of ROSATOM TVEL is the only production of titanium seamless pipes of DN 3 mm up to 273 mm in Russia. The capacities allow producing more than 500 tons of titanium products a year.
Besides, the plant in Glazov (Udmurtia) is Russia’s only producer of extra-pure metallic calcium and its alloys. The plant has mastered production of calcium injection wire which is widely used in iron & steel industry for secondary steelmaking. Calcium injection wire (CIW) is produced under the brand HighMet; the annual production volume is over 5,400 tons.
In 2018, JSC CMP has developed the industrial site for production of metallic hafnium which is the first in Russia. Hafnium is essential for nuclear industry, production of special heat-resisting alloys for aero-space engineering and powerful magnets as well as it is used as a dielectric in micro electronics. In 2020, JSC CMP has started exporting hafnium wire for plasma machines. First export supplies were made in the Czech Republic, Turkey and South Korea. The hafnium wire is made by JSC CMP to the international standard ASTM В737. It is used as an electrode in the plasma jet, which is based on 99.9%-pure iodine hafnium. The plant has mastered the full cycle of the hafnium wire manufacture: from the feed up to drawing and end product packing. The Chepetsky Mechanical Plant manufactures hafnium wire of 0.8 mm and larger. Plasma cutting of metals is widely used in power machine engineering, instrument engineering, aviation industry and metallurgy. Annual growth of plasma cutting machines entails the need in consumables. Given the growing demand for these products, the Chepetsky Mechanical Plant plans for fold increase in production of hafnium wire. In 2020, the order portfolio already exceeds RUB 60 million. JSC CMP’s most demanded hafnium products are iodine hafnium bars, sheets, additing alloys, pellets of hafnium powder, and hafnium oxide. JSC CMP produces hafnium products fully based on Russian technologies and reprocesses products which are generated in the course of reactor-grade zirconium production. Recovery of acids and alkali generated by the process substantially improves environmental indicators of the productions.
JSC CMP is the Russia’s only manufacturer of low-temperature superconductors which paved the way to participation in the development of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project and get going production of items of niobium and its high-purity alloys. Bochvar Institute of Non-Organic Materials (an enterprise of TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM) develops structures and technologies for fabrication superconducting wires for promising science and technology areas: medical imaging, magnetic systems of research fusion reactors and accelerators. As part of commitments of the Russian Federation on development of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), 56,000 km of SCM wires were delivered and items of niobium and its high-purity alloys have been fabricated. Totally, over 220 tons of superconducting strands were shipped for the ITER magnetic system only. JSC VNIINM and JSC CMP have built up a powerful material and technical framework SCM fabrication which provides now for successful fabrication of wires (nano-structure conductors) for medical imaging, high-velocity routes and aero-space engineering.