Different Russian fuel for third, fourth KNPP units

The third and fourth nuclear plants at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu will be powered by a fuel different from the one that powered the first and second units, a senior official of the Russian fuel company said here on Monday.

"We are negotiating for the supply of modified fuel for the third and fourth units at Kudankulam. The new fuel is yet to be licensed in India. And negotiations are going on. The proposed fuel is different from what was supplied for the first and second units," said Petr I. Lavrenyuk, senior vice president of TVEL company.

The new fuel is being supplied to nuclear power plants in China, he said.

The company recently signed an agreement with India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for supply of enriched uranium pellets. These will be shipped this year to the Nuclear Fuel Centre in Hyderabad, a fuel assembly production site for the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), he said.

Russia has been supplying nuclear fuel components for the Indian boiling water reactor since 2000. The Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) is under IAEA safeguards.

The fuel pellets are produced by Elemash (TVEL's group company), which has long been a reliable partner with TAPS.

As part of cooperation with India's DAE, TVEL also supplies nuclear fuel for the first and second power units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant under a life-cycle contract.

In addition, the Russian-Indian cooperation extends to shipments of nuclear fuel components as TVEL supplies natural enriched uranium dioxide pellets for the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (PHWR reactor).

In 2014, TVEL signed fuel supply contracts with nuclear power stations in Hungary, Slovakia and Finland, and research reactors in the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Uzbekistan.