Rosatom Launches Pilot Operation of Fuel Production Facility for BREST-OD-300 Fast Reactor
Foreks - Rosatom has reached the first significant milestone in the development of its IV Generation nuclear energy system. A nuclear fuel production/reprocessing unit for the innovative BREST-OD-300 fast neutron reactor has been pilot-operated in Seversk, located in the Tomsk region of Western Siberia. This facility is the first of three built under the unique IV Generation Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex (PDEC), constructed as part of the "Proryv" (Breakthrough) strategic project, established by Rosatom's Fuel Division.
The state-of-the-art fully automated facility has successfully produced the first sample fuel assemblies containing low-enriched uranium nitride fuel pellets for the BREST-OD-300 core design. All production areas of the new facility underwent comprehensive testing.
The fuel production facility fundamentally comprises four production areas: carbothermal synthesis of mixed uranium and plutonium nitrides, production of fuel pellets, production of fuel elements, and assembly of complete fuel assemblies. The facility will employ 250 people.
Currently, the operators at the facility are mastering the technology for producing BREST-OD-300 assemblies with a low-enriched uranium fuel matrix in accordance with the existing license from Russia's industrial and nuclear regulatory authority, Rostechnadzor. After the regulatory body's approval for plutonium processing, Siberian engineers will be able to start the production of the target product—mixed nitride uranium-plutonium fuel (or MNUP fuel). This will fully leverage all advantages of Russian IV Generation fuel, reactor, and radiochemical technologies. Before the first core loading of the BREST-OD-300, the production of more than 200 MNUP fuel assemblies is planned.
A unique technology for the production of uranium-plutonium nitride fuel has been developed by Rosatom scientists in Russia. Experimental MNUP fuel elements have been successfully tested in trial setups at the BOR-60 fast research reactor and at the commercial BN-600 fast reactor of the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The results of these irradiations and operations have provided the necessary data for verifying the initial core loading of the BREST-OD-300, including an adequate level of nuclear fuel burnup.
The Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex will include a total of three interconnected unique facilities: a unit for the production (manufacturing/re-manufacturing) of dense nitride uranium-plutonium nuclear fuel, a nuclear power plant featuring the innovative fast neutron lead-cooled reactor BREST-OD-300, and a unit for the reprocessing of irradiated fuel. Thus, for the first time in global practice, a NPP with a fast reactor and a closed nuclear fuel cycle will be built on a single site. After reprocessing, the irradiated fuel will be sent for re-manufacturing (i.e., the re-manufacturing of fresh fuel). This will render the system practically autonomous and independent from external energy supply sources.
Aleksey Likhachev, General Director of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, stated regarding the matter, "At this moment, Rosatom is at the forefront of the world's development of IV Generation nuclear technologies. According to the IAEA classification, this means higher efficiency in the utilization of fuel raw materials, enhanced safety standards for the operation of nuclear power plants, and significant reductions in nuclear waste production. All these principles are fully compatible with technological solutions adopted in the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex, such as fuel made from low-enriched uranium and plutonium, the BREST reactor facility based on natural safety principles, and the latest more efficient radiochemical technologies for the reprocessing of irradiated fuel."
Additionally, new production facilities have been established at various enterprises of the Rosatom Fuel Division to ensure the final fuel manufacturing at the PDEC facility in Seversk. Specifically, the production of the first core loading and BREST-OD-300 model assemblies, along with various metal components for fuel assemblies, has been developed at the Chepetsk Mechanical Plant in the Glazov region of the Udmurt Republic, at the Elemash Machine Engineering Plant in Elektrostal, Moscow region, and at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant in Western Siberia.