Ninth generation gas centrifuges have been installed at Rosatom’s Electrochemical Plant (EKhZ -ElektroKhimicheskii Zavod) in Zelenogorsk (Krasnoyarsk). Upgrading of the main equipment in the uranium enrichment workshop has been completed. Installation of the modern gas centrifuges took six years. Most of the cascades were put into operation ahead of schedule. The project was part of a programme to modernise separation equipment in Rosatom’s Fuel Division TVEL, with the phased replacement of older gas centrifuges.
TVEL said it was possible to maintain a high-quality schedule thanks to effective organisation for: purchase of equipment and materials; installation; commissioning operations; effective interaction of all plant divisions and contractor organisations; the effective use of digitalisation of technological processes; the tools of the Rosatom production system; and project management.
“It is symbolic that a significant historical milestone in the modernisation of basic equipment was reached during the eightieth anniversary of the nuclear industry,” said EKhZ Director General Sergey Filimonov. “Technical re-equipment of our enterprise is a significant foundation for the successful implementation of the production programme of Rosatom’s Fuel Division in subsequent years, including for the provision of nuclear fuel to new Russian-designed nuclear power units at home and abroad.”
EKhZ produces low-enriched uranium for NPP fuel assemblies, a range of stable and radioactive isotopes and a number of other high-tech products. TVEL provides fuel to a total of 75 power reactors in 15 countries, research reactors in nine countries, as well as reactors for the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world is powered by TVEL fuel. Rosatom’s fuel division is the world’s largest producer of enriched uranium, as well as the leader in the global stable isotopes market.
