3 Mar 2023 16:36

Russia's TVEL fulfilling all foreign lithium supply contracts - company head

NOVOSIBIRSK. March 3 (Interfax) - Russia's TVEL is fulfilling all its foreign lithium supply contracts, company president Natalia Nikipelova told journalists on Friday in Novosibirsk.

"Despite everything, we continue to deliver abroad, and this is extremely pleasing; it means that our products are highly effective and highly competitive, despite the current situation in international politics. Everyone is satisfied with the quality of the products, and we are still working," she said.

The Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant , or NCCP, a part of TVEL, is the only producer of lithium metal in the Russia, and in the coming years it is planning to expand its capacity from the current 250 tonnes to 350 tonnes per year due to the modernization of existing production, Nikipelova said.

"Another project, much more ambitious, is the expansion of lithium metal production volumes up to 1,000 tonnes per year, and we must complete this project in 2028," she said.

Rosatom has set the task of creating its own raw materials base, and lithium raw materials will also come from abroad, Nikipelova said.

"I can't say definitively whether the foreign tenders have ended or not, but I really hope that in addition to Russian lithium reserves, and Russia generally ranks third in the world in terms of lithium reserves, there will also be a foreign lithium deposit owned by Rosatom," she said.

NCCP specializes in the production of nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants, the fuel elements and fuel assemblies, as well as production equipment.