News
23.09.2024
Fuel. The Rostov NPP proceeded with the last iteration of piloting accident tolerant fuel (ATF), also known as ‘advanced technology fuel’. Fuel assemblies with experimental fuel rods will pass through three 18-month fuel campaigns, which is a standard nuclear fuel operation cycle for Russian VVER-1000 reactors. After a year and a half, the fuel will be unloaded from the reactor core, and the innovative fuel rods will undergo a series of post-irradiation studies. As the final qualification step for the Russian-designed ATF, one of the Russian reactors will be loaded with several fuel assemblies containing 312, not 12, innovative fuel rods. This fuel is called ‘accident tolerant’ because it can survive emergencies at nuclear power plants. Even if a loss-of-coolant accident occurs and reactor heat removal systems fail to operate properly, this fuel will retain its integrity for a long time, without initiating a vapor zirconium reaction that contributes to hydrogen release.
Proryv Project. Equipment pre-commissioning is nearing completion at the innovative nitride fuel fabrication module in Seversk (Russia). Built under the Proryv (Russian for Breakthrough) project, the module is designed for the fabrication/re-fabrication of mixed uranium-plutonium nitride (MUPN) fuel and is part of an experimental power production facility (abbreviated ODEK in Russian). The fuel fabrication module consists mostly of carbothermal synthesis furnaces for sintering fuel pellets. ODEK includes three interconnected facilities: a MUPN fuel fabrication/re-fabrication module, a power unit with an innovative Generation IV fast neutron reactor BREST-OD-300, and an irradiated fuel reprocessing module. When completed, ODEK will be the first ever nuclear power plant to integrate a fast neutron reactor and on-site facilities for closing the nuclear fuel cycle.
Rooppur NPP. Dummy fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor of Rooppur Unit 1 in Bangladesh. Dummies replicate the design of real fuel assemblies in size, weight and materials, but contain no nuclear fuel. They are intended to simulate the geometry of the reactor core for the purpose of verifying hydraulic parameters of the reactor plant and checking the operation of the fuel handling machine. Nuclear fuel will be loaded once all the reactor performance parameters are confirmed using the dummies. The Rooppur NPP is constructed 160 km away from Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. The plant will have two Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors with a total power capacity of 2,400 MW.
