Chinese VVERs start using domestically made fuel

The first domestically produced VVER fuel assemblies have been loaded into the cores of the Russian-designed units 1 and 2 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in Jiangsu province, China.

Tianwan Phase I (Image: AtomStroyExport)

Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL and Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation (JNPC) signed a contract in December 1997 for the supply of fuel for the initial core loading of Tianwan units 1 and 2, as well as three subsequent reloads for each unit. Since signing the contract, TVEL has produced 638 fuel assemblies for the two VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors (PWRs) at Tianwan. The last batch of fuel to be supplied under that contract was delivered in March.
Fuel for the Tianwan units will now be produced at China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC's) main PWR fuel fabrication plant at Yibin, Sichuan province, using technology transferred from TVEL under the fuel supply contract. To enable the manufacture of fuel for the fourth reloads of the units, TVEL signed a contract in 2009 with China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEIC), an international trading company directly owned by CNNC and authorized to carry out import and export trade of uranium products, nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear power and technology equipment. It subsequently supplied CNNC with billets for use in producing fuel assemblies.