The reactor Maria is named after Polish prominent scientist and double Nobel Prize winner Maria Sklodowska-Curie. It was started up in 1974. Now, this is the only operating research reactor in Poland. Already this August TVEL will complete in-pile tests of the new nuclear fuel made of low enriched uranium for the Polish reactor, Petr Lavrenyuk, Senior Vice President for science, technology and quality at TVEL, said.

Uranium grows poor
In the recent decades main efforts to develop nuclear fuel for research reactors have focused on conversion of reactors in research centers from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU). The program of reducing enrichment of research and test reactor fuel (RERTR – Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors), which is coordinated by the IAEA, is one of the key areas of the cooperation between Russia and Poland in the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

According to Lavrenyuk, TVEL’s specialists have designed and launched a series fabrication of new types of LEU fuel. This allowed the company to stop deliveries of HEU fuel assemblies abroad commencing 2013. “The Russia-designed reactors in Libya, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine have been converted to use LEU fuel. Now, it’s Poland’s turn,” he noted.

Preparing for series production
The in-pile tests of MR LEU fuel assemblies in the research reactor Maria (National Center for Nuclear Research in the Institute of Atomic Energy of Poland) started in 2013. “After completion of tests in August 2014 and post-irradiation examination, TVEL is to be qualified by the Polish regulators, which will allow series supplies of LEU fuel for this reactor,” the TVEL’s top manager said. 

TVEL’s core business is fabrication and supplies of nuclear fuel for power and research reactors. The Fuel Company meets the nuclear fuel requirements of 74 power reactors in Russia and 15 states in Europe and Asia, 30 research reactors across the world, as well as all propulsion reactors of Russia’s nuclear-propelled fleet. Each sixth reactor in the world operates with TVEL’s fuel. By the way, recently TVEL announced signing of contracts for supply of its fuel assemblies to NPPs in different world countries totaling nearly US$ 11 billion. The contracts cover a future period of 10 years.