Improving safety and efficiency of nuclear fuel as basis of TVEL international R&D cooperation

TVEL Fuel Company was established in order to achieve an optimal structure management of enterprises of the nuclear fuel cycle of the Russian nuclear industry and to improve their efficiency and competitiveness in the global market. It is part of the Fuel Division of Rosatom State Corporation and includes enterprises for fabrication of nuclear fuel, conversion and enrichment of uranium, production of gas centrifuges, as well as research and development organizations. The main activity of TVEL is the production and supply of nuclear fuel for power and research reactors to Russian and foreign nuclear power stations. The fuel company provides 17% of the world nuclear fuel market, which meets the highest international standards for reliability. In addition to providing consumers with modern nuclear fuel, TVEL JSC solves the problems of supporting the operation of nuclear fuel to the maximum extent, such as, for example, the development, manufacture, licensing of new types of nuclear fuel, increasing the capacity of power units, introducing new fuel cycles with improved technical and economic characteristics, the solution of all technical issues arising during the fuel operation. The main requirements for nuclear fuel are safety, reliability, economic efficiency and competitiveness. Achieving these goals requires continuous development of existing designs of fuel assemblies (FA) including: 1. Ensuring the geometric stability of the FA design; 2. Increasing the service life of fuel assemblies; 3. Increasing the operational reliability of fuel assemblies; 4. Creation of collapsible (repairable) fuel assemblies; 5. Implementation of safe and cost-effective fuel cycles, including: (increase in fuel burnup depth; increasing the thermal capacity of power units, introduction of extended fuel cycles (18, 24 months), reduction of the neutron load on the hull). In recent years, as a result of the work carried out with the involvement of leading enterprises of the large-volume industry R&D, R&D and TR are developed, implemented and successfully NPPs operate new types of nuclear fuel for the main types of energy reactors: for VVER-1000 – TVSA-PLUS and TVS-2M and their modifications; for VVER-440 - RC and fuel assemblies of the 2nd and 3rd generations. Promising areas of development are: for VVER-1000 - fuel assemblies of the 4th generation and fuel assemblies without fastening of fuel elements; for VVER-440 - fuel with fuel elements with an outer diameter of 8.9 mm and modification RK-3 with wide corner and fuel cycles using fuel enriched above 5%. TVEL JSC pays great attention to the creation of new fuel compositions and work on the improvement of zirconium materials in order to increase reliability and safe operation of nuclear fuel under conditions of increasing of burnup, increasing of resource and power rise. Mechanical equipment at nuclear fuel plants is constantly updated, the technology of manufacturing components and fuel assemblies is being improved, methods of quality control of the end products are being improved also. Technical and economic characteristics (fuel burn-up, operational period and fuel cycles, etc.) are on a world level. TVEL JSC provides and will continue to provide only competitive and reliable nuclear fuel for VVER reactors