Rosatom may in 2020-2030 begin export of closed fuel cycle technologies
TOMSK. May 22 (Interfax) - Rosatom state corporation may in 2020-2030 begin the export of closed fuel cycle technologies, the scientific director of the Proryv (Breakthrough) project management, Yevgeny Adamov, told journalists on Friday.
"We received an order to review the implementation of research and advanced development in commercial production from the corporation's management. This step may be implemented in 2020-2030. It is clear that this [Proryv project] is being done not only for our own use but also for export," Adamov said.
He said that among the potential users of technologies are countries like China and Japan. "In the first place, the technologies will be interesting to the Chinese. For the Japanese, it is very difficult to get by without nuclear sources of energy," Adamov said.
"Everyone is engaged in rapid reactors. Rapid reactors are being worked on in China, and the Indians are working on them too and have begun developing a thorium cycle," Adamov said.
The Proryv project was launched in 2011 to develop a nuclear power complex that includes nuclear power plants with fast neutron reactors, facilities for regeneration and refabrication of nuclear fuel and preparation of all types of radioactive waste for final disposal. The project involves the design of a BN-1200 fast neutron reactor, the construction of a pilot generating unit with a BREST-300 lead-cooled fast neutron reactor (by 2020), a solid fuel fabrication module (2018) and a spent nuclear fuel processing module (2020). The project is being carried out at the Siberian Chemical Plant (SCP).
SCP, the main employer in the Seversk closed administrative area, encompasses four plants that handle nuclear materials and a thermal power plant. One of the main areas of SCP's operations is to supply nuclear power plants with uranium for nuclear fuel, production of heat and electricity. All Russian production of uranium hexafluoride, a compound used in the uranium enrichment process to produce fuel for nuclear reactors, was concentrated at SCP in 2014.