The Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC), part of the TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom State Corporation, has completed the commissioning of a new batch of electrolyzers at the sublimation production facility. The modernization is aimed at ensuring an uninterrupted supply of fluorine — a critically important component for the conversion of natural uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆), a key compound in the nuclear fuel cycle.
The new electrolyzers are entirely made from domestic components by enterprises in the Tomsk region, which reduces dependence on imported technologies. Simultaneously, the plant continues to modernize related sections of the technological chain: fluorine purification systems, fluorination reactors, and equipment for condensing the final product.
Uranium conversion is a mandatory step between uranium ore mining and its enrichment. At this stage, uranium dioxide (UO₂) is chemically transformed into gaseous uranium hexafluoride — the only form of compound suitable for separating uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes in cascades of gas centrifuges. It is in the form of hexafluoride that enriched uranium is transported to fuel plants for subsequent fabrication of reactor fuel assemblies.