Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom will transfer Iran’s Bushehr NPP to use the more efficient TVS-2M nuclear fuel. The TVS-2M fuel, which has higher burn-up and operational characteristics, will be used at Bushehr 1, Alexander Evseev, production director of the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (part of TVEL) said in an interview with the corporate publication of the Russian nuclear industry "Country Rosatom”. He added that both Bushehr and India’s Kudankulam NPP would transition to the new fuel shortly.
Second generation TVS-2M is now the main type of fuel for Russian-built nuclear plants with the VVER-1000 reactors. TVS-2M fuel makes possible longer fuel cycles and increased power and also has improved safety characteristics. Bushehr 1 is a unique facility with no analogues in the world. Its construction was started in 1974 by the German concern Kraftwerk Union (Siemens/KWU), but in 1980 the West German government joined the US sanctions imposed on Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution, and construction was discontinued.
In August 1992, an agreement was signed between Russia and Iran to complete the plant followed by a contract in 1995. Russia’s Atomstroyexport and its contractors managed to integrate Russian equipment, including a VVER-1000 reactor, into the partly built plant and also used about 12,000 tons of German equipment. Bushehr 1 was connected to the grid in 2011 and was formally transferred to Iran in 2016. Rosatom continues to service the unit and supply fuel.
TVS-2M fuel (Photo: TVEL)
