Professor: Russian nuclear fuel has no competitors

ArmInfo. Russian nuclear fuel has no competitors in the world in terms of quality and reliability. A similar point of view is shared by Vahram Petrosyan, Director General of the Scientific and Research Institute "Armatom", Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Armenian Nuclear Power Plant" CJSC.

In conversation with corr. ArmInfo the professor stressed that Russian nuclear fuel produced at the Elektrostal plant with some modifications can be used at almost all nuclear power plants in the world.  "During the Great Patriotic War, this factory manufactured shells for Katyusha missile systems, a unique plant that produces today the highest quality nuclear fuel that has no competitors in the world," the professor said. He pointed out that the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) had never encountered problems related to the quality of the fuel supplied from TVEL, a part of the Rosatom State Corporation.  "Fuel supplies for the station have always been carried out in a timely manner and with high quality," the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ZAO ANPP stressed.

He added that all spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is stored in the corresponding storage facility. For these purposes, three storage modules were put into operation at the expense of the state budget of Armenia, in which it is possible to store SNF until 2026. After this period, the fourth module will be built at the station.The State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committee under the Government of Armenia issued a license to operate the storage facility for a period of 20 years by the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant on August 1, 2000.

The storage of type NUHOMS-56 consists of 11 horizontal modules with 616 heat-insulating containers. In 2005, the Armenian parliament decided to expand the storage facility, which will allow storing up to 1890 containers for at least 50 years.  JSC TVEL was established on September 12, 1996 in accordance with the Decree of the President of the

Russian Federation, is a part of the State Corporation Rosatom. Fuel company TVEL includes enterprises for fabricating nuclear fuel, converting and enriching uranium, producing gas centrifuges, as well as research and design organizations. It is the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian nuclear power plants.  TVEL JSC provides nuclear power for 75 power reactors in 14 countries, research reactors, and transport reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world operates on fuel produced by TVEL. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin stated on September 3, 2013 after negotiations with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan that Rosatom and Armenian experts agreed to work on the implementation of the project to extend the life of the operating power unit of the Armenian nuclear power plant for 10 years - until 2026. To this end, the Russian Federation granted Armenia an export loan of $ 270 million and a grant of $ 30 million.