Russia’s Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK – Gorno Khimicheskii Kombinat), in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk, (part of Rosatom’s Environmental Solutions Division) has completed modernisation of its plutonium reprocessing unit (PPU). The large-scale reconstruction, which took several years, will make it possible to increase the production of purified plutonium dioxide.
The end product will be suitable for creating a master mixture, from which tablets of mixed oxide (mox) fuel and mixed uranium-plutonium nitride fuel can be made for Generation IV reactor plants. Modernisation of the installation will also increase the amount of plutonium that can be recovered from waste generated during the production of mox fuel. At the same time, more valuable components will be removed from “tail solutions”.
“Constant improvement of basic radiochemical equipment enables us to confidently move towards the industrial development of Generation IV nuclear energy technologies and a closed nuclear cycle,” said Vasily Tinin, Rosatom’s Director for State Policy on Radioactive Waste, Used Nuclear Fuel, and Decommissioning of Hazardous Facilities. “The key idea is to reuse nuclear materials and used nuclear fuel components, and minimise the volume of radioactive waste.”
He added: “This idea is now being implemented in a number of projects implemented by GKhK, and the plutonium reprocessing plant is one such project that enables us to take stored nuclear and turn them into fuel for fast neutron reactors. With the development of Generation IV reactor technologies, the need for radiochemistry will only grow.”
GKhK Director General Dmitry Kolupaev noted: “We are consistently increasing our competencies in the production of uranium-plutonium fuel and its components and the involvement of secondary resources in production. In addition, modernisation of the PPU is an important step towards the development of technologies for the production of nuclear fuel for future BN-1200 and BR-1200 reactors.”
Alexander Ugryumov, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Rosatom’s Fuel Division, TVEL, explained: “Russian NPPs plan to gradually increase the use of uranium-plutonium fuel, both in fast reactors and in classical VVERs. In this regard, plutonium is becoming an increasingly popular product in nuclear energy. The BN-800 reactor at the Beloyarsk NPP was completely converted to mox fuel several years ago. In the BREST-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor plant, which is being built as part of the strategic Breakthrough project, the core will be loaded with high-density uranium-plutonium nitride (SNUP – Smeshannoe Nitridnoi Uran-Plutonievoe) fuel from the very beginning. All subsequent serial “fast” reactors must also be launched with a full load of uranium-plutonium fuel,”
In future, it is planned to create additional units for the deposition and calcination of plutonium dioxide at PPU. This will improve the overall productivity of the installation to ensure reliable fuel supply for the Generation IV power units that Rosatom intends to build in the coming decades. GKhK has been designated as a priority site for the construction of mox fuel production facility for the BN-1200M sodium-cooled fast reactor, which is being built at unit 5 of the Beloyarsk NPP.
