New Fuel. In-pile tests on the innovative uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel for thermal reactors commenced at the MIR research reactor at the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR, part of Rosatom). The researchers will irradiate the new fuel and conduct experiments to study the cost-efficiency and safety of its use in VVER reactors. For the Russian nuclear industry, this is another step towards closing the nuclear fuel cycle. “Given that light-water thermal reactors are the basis of nuclear power generation, we can multiply the fabrication of fresh fuel for them by reprocessing spent fuel instead of storing it, and thus greatly reduce radioactive wastes,” says Alexander Ugryumov, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at TVEL. At present, MOX fuel is fabricated solely for fast neutron reactors, such as the world’s only commercial fast reactor BN-800 at the Beloyarsk NPP (Russia).