The Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK), part of the TVEL fuel company of the Rosatom State Corporation, has completed the commissioning of a new batch of electrolyzers at its 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 manufactured entirely from domestically produced components by enterprises in Tomsk Region, which reduces dependence on imported technologies. At the same time, the plant is continuing the modernization of adjacent sections of the process chain: fluorine purification systems, fluorination reactors, and equipment for condensing the final product.
Uranium conversion is a mandatory stage between uranium ore mining and its enrichment. At this stage, uranium dioxide (UO₂) is chemically transformed into gaseous uranium hexafluoride, the only compound form suitable for separating uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes in gas centrifuge cascades. It is specifically in the form of hexafluoride that enriched uranium is transported to fuel plants for the subsequent fabrication of reactor fuel assemblies.
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