Nuclear fuel for WWER reactors. Current status and prospects

In 1997 started the activities for development of a FA of new generation with improved technical, economic and operational indices. These FAs should ensure competitiveness of Russian nuclear fuel at traditional market and provide expansion of market. In this paper the trends for supporting fulfilment of this goal like: 1) Increase in fuel burnup; 2)Extension of FA's life time; 3) Improvement of FA's operational reliability; 4) Increase in lateral rigidity of FA (for WWER-1000); 5) Providing reliability of RCCA functioning (for WWER-1000); 6) Designing of demountable (repairable) FAs; 7) Implementing of safe and cost-beneficial fuel cycles are presented. At the end the following conclusion has been made: R and D activity, performed by Russian institutes, design bureaus and factories, allowed to create nuclear fuel for WWER reactors of new generation with basic technical and economic indices (burnup, lifetime etc.) conforming with the standards of world's fuel supplies for commercial reactors