OREANDA-NEWS. July 11, 2007. Vice President of National Atomic Energy Company Energoatom (NAEC) Olga Kravets told the media conference devoted to the II International Futsal TVEL and NAEC Cup Tournament that the Ukrainian utility was considering a possibility to replace standard nuclear fuel assemblies which were used at unit three of South Ukrainian nuclear power plant (SUNPP) with the improved TVSA fuel. This type of fuel has already been in use at 12 out of 13 Ukrainian NPPs with VVER-1000 reactors.

The Ukrainian nuclear specialists were fully satisfied with technical and economic characteristics of the Russian fuel. Khmelnitsky NPP Director General Nikolai Panashenko said “the Russian fuel performed perfectly.” “Khmelnitsky NPP has always been a pioneer to implement advanced fuels. The second reactor of the plant was the first to be fully charged with improved fuel assemblies of the TVSA type. Its operating experience has demonstrated that the fuel has very good characteristics. It should be also considered that when a new reactor is started up, it undergoes over 250 different tests which the fuel passed positively, with no claims,” he said.

The plant’s Director General also said that the second reactor of the plant was adopting the load-following operational mode and that “tests are underway which already now allow to consider that the Russian fuel can be used in the daily load-following mode.” He said “the fuel performs normally in hybrid core operations.”

Answering the journalists’ questions, TVEL’s Vice President Vasili Konstantinov informed that similar fuel was used also at Kozloduy NPP in Bulgaria and is to be supplied to Temelin NPP in the Czech Republic in 2009. The Czech utility CEZ has decided to replace the currently used fuel made by Westinghouse with the Russian TVSA fuel earlier than scheduled. The won tender for fuel supplies to Temelin NPP and signing of contractual documents in June 2007 has helped the Russian producer to regain all traditional fuel markets in the countries where Russian design reactors are operated and have demonstrated advantages of nuclear fuel fabricated by TVEL Corporation.