A project team meeting was held at the Siberian Chemical Plant (SCP) chosen as a construction site for the pilot center with a BREST-OD-300 fast lead-cooled reactor. The team discussed the construction and installation progress at the fuel fabrication and refabrication facility (FRF). Other issues considered at the meeting included the procurement, manufacture and delivery of equipment for the FRF and BREST-OD-300, as well as customized equipment for FRF process lines.

Vyacheslav Pershukov, Rosatom’s Deputy CEO for Innovation Management and Breakthrough Project Manager, reported that equipment installation at the fuel fabrication facility, which is the pilot center’s first unit, is to start in September. The facility is expected to be finished in 2018.

“The preparation phase is over; construction is now gaining momentum. We have begun concreting, finishing and equipment assembly; construction of utility networks is also underway,” Vyacheslav Pershukov said. “The design documents for the reactor have been completed and examined by regulatory authorities. Now we are preparing detailed specifications and drawings, and doing paperwork to place an order for long-lead equipment. The BREST construction will start next year, as soon as we obtain a license from Rostechnadzor.” He added that the construction schedule for the fuel refabrication unit was linked to the general schedule for the BREST-OD-300 reactor.

The Breakthrough Project Manager reminded of the intended purpose that the pilot reactor serves, “The pilot center will generate 300 MW – this is no large capacity. More important is that it is meant for extensive research and piloting new technologies for commercial use.”

Rosatom’s annual report mentions its plans for this year to develop a pilot technology for the production of a new fuel type for the Breakthrough Project. The technology targets the fabrication of mixed uranium plutonium nitride (MUPN) fuel for fast reactors. It has been proven experimentally to have several advantages over conventional nuclear fuel, including high burnup values, increased thermal conductivity and compatibility with liquid metal coolants. In 2015, SCP built a pilot facility to synthesize nitride powders for MUPN fuel pellets.

The Breakthrough Project focuses on testing and piloting closed fuel cycle technologies. Experts believe that practical application of project results will strengthen Russia’s leadership on the global nuclear market. In the closed nuclear cycle, fuel is reproduced, or bred, in fast reactors, thus increasing the fuel stock in the industry and minimizing radioactive waste by ‘burning up’ hazardous radionuclides. According to experts, Russia is ranked first globally in fast reactor technologies.