As part of a working visit to Russia, a representative delegation from the Republic of Bangladesh, including a number of high-ranking officials, visited the Elemash Machine-Building Plant, a nuclear fuel fabrication facility of Rosatom’s TVEL Fuel Company in Elektrostal, Moscow region. The delegation included, among other guests, Yeafesh Osman, Minister of Science and Technology of the Republic of Bangladesh, Sanowar Hossain, Chairman of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, and Muzammil Haque, Chairman of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority.
According to the contract, TVEL JSC will supply nuclear fuel for both VVER-1200 power units with of the Rooppur NPP until the end of their service life.
At the Elemash sit, the Bangladeshi partners could see the technology used in manufacturing of fuel pellets, fuel rods, and fuel assemblies, including those for VVER-1200, at the production facilities of Elemash. They acknowledged the high level of production culture, production technologies, item numbering and marking (each fuel element has a unique barcode), quality and safety control, as well as automation at Elemash. “Everything is very well organized at the plant. This is a very knowledge-intensive production process. In addition, I would like to point out that the plant has adopted all the necessary safety measures,” Mr. Yeafesh Osman commented.
“Rosatom Fuel Division provides its customers with highly reliable nuclear fuel of top quality, while also regularly rendering engineering services throughout the NPP life cycle, implementing projects for the introduction of new fuel designs and modifications, as well as new fuel cycle solutions that make power units operation even more cost effective. We will supply advanced and most efficient fuel, which has successful reference operating records, for the units of the Gen 3+ Rooppur NPP,” said Fedor Sokolov, Director of the Commerce Department at TVEL JSC.
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The Rooppur NPP is located on the eastern bank of the Ganges River in the Pabna district at a distance of about 160 km northwest of Dhaka, the capital of the Republic. Rosatom Engineering Division is responsible for the design and construction of the NPP. The nuclear power plant will consist of two power units with VVER-1200, whose life cycle is 60 years with possible extension for another 20 years. The first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh is based on a Russian design with VVER-1200, which was successfully implemented at the Novovoronezh NPP-2. This is an evolutionary Gen 3+ design that fully meets international safety requirements.
The Machine Building Plant (MSZ JSC, Elektrostal) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of fuel for nuclear power plants. The plant manufactures fuel assemblies for VVER-440, VVER-1000, RBMK-1000, BN-600,800, VK-50, EGP-6, as well as powders and fuel pellets to be supplied to foreign customers. MSZ JSC also manufactures nuclear fuel for research reactors. The company belongs to Rosatom TVEL.
Rosatom TVEL (the Fuel Division of Rosatom) comprises nuclear fuel fabricating plants, uranium conversion and enrichment companies, gas centrifuge manufacturers, as well as R&D and design engineering organizations.
The company celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. TVEL was established in 1996, and today being one of the largest suppliers of fuel for the global nuclear power industry it continues to strengthen its position implementing new production projects. TVEL has never had any customers' complaints about its product quality in its entire history. As the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian NPPs, TVEL supplies fuel to a total of 75 power reactors in 15 countries, research reactors in nine countries, and propulsion reactors for the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world is operated with TVEL fuel.
The Fuel Division of Rosatom is the world's largest producer of enriched uranium and the leader on the global stable isotope market. The Fuel Division is actively developing new businesses in the field of chemistry, metallurgy, energy storage technologies, 3D printing, digital products, and nuclear facility decommissioning. TVEL also includes Rosatom's branch integrators for additive technologies and energy storage systems.
