Innovative fifth-generation fuel – TVS-5 fuel assemblies – has been successfully loaded at power unit No. 6 of the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). This was reported by the press service of Rosatom's fuel division.
The batch of nuclear fuel was loaded into the VVER-1200 reactor during a scheduled maintenance outage. The experimental fuel assemblies will be tested in operation for three fuel campaigns within an 18-month fuel cycle.
One of the tasks of closing the nuclear fuel cycle in the formation of a two-component nuclear energy system is the introduction of fuel from regenerated nuclear materials, including for classical thermal neutron reactors. The start of operation of TVS-5 at the Novovoronezh NPP is a necessary step to justify the production of such a design on an industrial scale.
VVER-type thermal light water reactors form the basis of nuclear energy in Russia and are actively operated abroad at NPPs of Russian design. The Russian strategy for the development of the nuclear industry for the coming decades includes the creation of a two-component nuclear energy system with thermal and fast neutron reactors, as well as the introduction of technologies for closing the nuclear fuel cycle.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that Russia still supplies nuclear fuel to the United States.
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