The fuel division of the State Corporation Rosatom (management company – JSC “TELEL”) began implementing a contract for the supply of nuclear fuel for power units No. 3 and No. 4 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (India) built on the Russian project.
According to the Rosatom press service, the contract is designed for the entire service life of the blocks, starting from the starting load of the active reactors zone
During the operation of the two power units of the first stage of the Kudankula nuclear power plants with VVER-1000 reactors, Russian and Indian specialists did significant work to increase their efficiency by introducing improved nuclear fuel and increased fuel cycles.
Since 2022, nuclear fuel of the advanced TTS-2M design has been delivered at the Kudankula nuclear power plants. It provides more reliable and economically efficient operation of power units due to a rigid design, a new generation anti -defector filter and a larger weight of uranium.
In addition, its introduction made it possible to increase the continuous cycle of the operation of power units from 12 to 18 months, that is, they less often stop for overloading fuel and produce more electricity.
“The capacities of the second phase of the Kudankuli nuclear power plants will be the first VVER-1000 power units in history, which will be launched immediately in an 18-month fuel cycle. This is the result of our successful cooperation of recent years, when those effective solutions were worked out on the current power units of the power plant, which were also previously introduced on similar power units in Russia and China, ”said Natalya Nikipelova, president of TVEL JSC.
Throughout the life cycle of Rosatom NPP, not only supplies nuclear fuel, but also provides engineering services, increasing the efficiency of power units due to new solutions for fuel and fuel cycle, she added.