TVEL, Russia, Completes Fuel Pellets Supply to Tarapur Nuclear Power Plant

TVEL, fuel division of Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, has shipped to India the final consignment of uranium fuel pellets for BWR reactors and thereby fulfilled the relevant contract with India’s State-owned department of atomic energy. The total volume of the supplied fuel pellets exceeded 50 tonnes and all shipments have carried out in 2019.

 

Interestingly, the fuel pellets made of low-enriched uranium dioxide were produced at Elemash (Machine-building plant), a fabrication facility of TVEL Fuel Company in Elektrostal, Moscow region of Russia. In India, the pellets will be used for the fabrication of nuclear fuel assemblies for the Tarapur Nuclear Power Plant at the National Fuel Complex in Hyderabad.

 

Oleg Grigoriyev, Senior Vice President for Commerce and International Business at TVEL, said that Rosatom fuel division is capable of producing nuclear fuel components for all basic types of operational nuclear reactors. Significantly, TVEL has a long successful track record of fuel pellets supplies to India for reactors of non-Russian design, such as BWR and PHWR. This is a proof of the fact that their market offer is competitive and viable both technically and commercially. Should the Indian partners be interested, they are committed to the accomplishment of similar contracts, as well as new projects in the nuclear fuel cycle.

 

In India, TVEL also provides shipments of fuel assemblies for the Russian-made VVER reactors at the two operating units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tami Ladu, under the long-term contract with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

 

Tarapur NPP in Palghar district, Maharashtra, is the first commercial nuclear power plant in India commissioned in 1969. According to WNA data, at present, it is powered by two 150 MWe BWR reactors and two 490 MWe PHWR reactors.

 

From fabrication of nuclear fuel, conversion and enrichment of uranium, production of gas centrifuges for nuclear companies to work for research and design organizations, among other things- the Russian company does everything. Incidentally, it is the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian nuclear power plants. It is pertinent to mention here that TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom provides nuclear fuel for 76 power reactors in 15 countries worldwide, research reactors in eight countries. It does the same for transport reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet as well. Quite significantly, every sixth power reactor in the world operates on fuel manufactured by TVEL only.