Russia commences fuel production for Kudankulam Units 3 and 4

The Russian nuclear power agency Rosatom has commenced the production of nuclear fuel that will power India's Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) Units 3 and 4, which are under construction in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

"TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom has started implementation of nuclear fuel supply contract. This contract embraces the entire lifetime of the power units from the starting loading of the reactor cores," Rosatom said.

Typically, modern-day nuclear power plants have a lifetime of 40-60 years. Kudankulam comprises a total of six VVER-1000 type power units, each of which is capable of generating 1000 megawatts of power.

For nearly 10years, Units 1 and 2 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant have been operational. Thus far, during the operational period of Units 1 and 2 of KKNPP, Russian and Indian specialists have accomplished a large amount of work to improve their efficiency by introducing advanced nuclear fuel and extended fuel cycles.

Since 2022, Kudankulam NPP has been supplied with nuclear fuel of improved design 'TVS-2M'. The new fuel ensures more reliable and cost-efficient operation of reactors due to its rigid skeleton, new-generation anti-debris filter and higher uranium mass.

The introduction of TVS-2M also enabled the increase of the continuous operation period of the reactor from 12 months to 18 months.

The newer fuel meant that the reactor could operate for six months longer than usual. Typically, after 12 months of operation, the reactor has to be shut down and its irradiated fuel has to be unloaded and the fresh fuel has to be loaded.

Now this process needs to be done only once in 18 months, thanks to the new type of fuel that is in use. Longer periods of continuous operation boosts the economic efficiency of the nuclear reactor, as it can produce more power during the year and faces less number of shutdowns overall.

“The facilities of the second stage of the Kudankulam NPP will be the first VVER-1000 reactors in history to be launched in an extended 18-month fuel cycle.

"This is a result of our successful cooperation in recent years, as the efficient solutions which have been previously implemented at similar reactors in Russia and China were also introduced at the Kudankulam operational power units.

Throughout the entire NPP life cycle, Rosatom not only supplies nuclear fuel, but also provides engineering services, improving the efficiency of power units through new solutions for fuel and fuel cycle,” Natalia Nikipelova, president of TVEL Fuel Company, said.

KKNPP in Tamil Nadu involves the construction of sixpower units of VVER-1000 reactors with an installed capacity of 6000 MW. The first stage, consisting of power units No.1 and No. 2, was commissioned in 2013 and 2017, respectively.

Power units No. 3, 4 and No. 5, 6 are the second and third stages of the Kudankulam NPP. Currently, power units 3, 4, 5, and 6 are under construction.

TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom (the fuel division of the state corporation Rosatom)includes enterprises for the manufacture of nuclear fuel, conversion and enrichment of uranium, production of gas centrifuges, as well as research and design organisations.

Being the only exclusive supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian nuclear power plants, TVEL provides fuel to a total of more than 70 power reactors in 15 countries, and research reactors in nine countries acrossthe world.

Notably, every sixth power reactor in the world is powered by TVEL fuel. Rosatom’s fuel division is also the world’s largest producer of enriched uranium.