TVEL President Yuri Olenin has outlined a number of ambitious tasks. As a well-established nuclear fuel producer, the company competes for a new PWR fuel market. The reason is simple – there are much more pressurized water reactors than VVER reactors in the world. According to forecasts, there will be 369 PWRs and 87 VVER reactors by 2030 globally (234 and 73 in 2014 respectively). “All NPP operators strive to have at least three, not two, alternative nuclear fuel suppliers. Some suppliers are removed from the roll for low quality or unfair price, but we stand a good chance of competing in this field,” said Yuri Olenin.
The first breakthrough was a pilot batch of Russian-made TVS Kvadrat fuel loaded in a European reactor last year. In association with Areva, TVEL manufactures fuel assemblies and components for PWR and BWR reactors in Western Europe and fuel components for India’s PHWR reactors. Last February, a RUB 2.5bn contract was signed to supply fuel pellets for the boiling water reactor at Tarapur Atomic Power Station.
The last year was marked with a similar event – TVEL produced R-20 fuel for a research reactor in the Netherlands. TVS Kvadrat and R-20 projects won the first and second prizes in the One Step Ahead category in Rosatom’s Person of the Year competition. “These are good examples of TVEL capabilities,” noted Yuri Olenin.
The only criterion
Uranium enrichment is another growth option. Together with TENEX, TVEL is a number one provider of enrichment services although competition with other global leaders, Areva and Westinghouse, is intense. “Global supply exceeds demand for fuel conversion, enrichment and fabrication services,” says TVEL President. “In this situation, you win if you optimize your costs.”
Enrichment services are the same for any reactor type. “No flavor, no smell and no color as they say,” jokes Yuri Olenin. “The only criterion is their price that should be given special attention.” Recent years have brought a sizable drop in enrichment prices, with the price of separative work unit (SWU) decreasing twice since 2009. This is where one can compete only in terms of production cost and delivery terms. “If we succeed in bringing down SWU costs rather than maintaining them, if we are proactive, we will finally have more consumers,” explains Yuri Olenin.
TVEL aims to strengthen its global leadership in the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle. For this purpose, TVEL and TENEX are planning to increase their joint enrichment market share from 36% to 42% by 2030. For reference: Chinese companies hold 5% of the market, with Areva and Urenco having 13% and 32% respectively.
Non-nuclear segment
The non-nuclear segment is a safety bag for TVEL Fuel Company. Major points of growth include rolled titan and stainless steel products, calcium metal, lithium metal and its compounds, isotope products, zeolite catalysts, zirconium, superconductors, and many other non-nuclear products. Isotopes, calcium and lithium enjoy the highest demand on the international market, and it keeps on growing. Chepetsk Mechanical Plant took 4 years to set up commercial production of sophisticated and high added value titanium-based products from scratch. Last year TVEL shipped the final lot of superconducting strands for the ITER project. Now TVEL is preparing for a new and ambitious project initiated by CERN – a 100km Future Circular Collider.
High expectations are placed on the production of high-purity (99.99%) lithium-7 hydroxide at Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant. Another opportunity is cooperation with Russian energy companies in developing and manufacturing self-contained power supplies, now imported.
