Rosatom plans nuclear fuel research in Czechia

TVEL and the Nuclear Research Institute in Řež near Prague have signed a cooperation agreement in the field of materials studies and research. TVEL, Rosatom's nuclear fuel manufacturing subsidiary, announced on Monday that Czech scientists will carry out experiments on materials used in fuel elements by irradiating them in the reactor at the Nuclear Research Centre in Řež, and will conduct studies of the properties of these materials before and after radiation exposure.

The research will focus on the behaviour of structural materials for fuel assemblies, including zirconium, chromium-nickel and steel alloys, as well as several other important materials. According to TVEL, the studies are intended to “verify the operating characteristics of Russian nuclear fuel”.

Independent verification of material properties

“The research centre in Řež has highly professional staff and modern infrastructure for materials research in the nuclear industry. In assessing the materials used for TVEL fuel assemblies, we want to focus on studies of their corrosion resistance, the formation of microcracks under thermal stress, structural properties, material fatigue damage, dry storage experiments and testing in a supercritical water environment,” said Alexander Ugryumov, TVEL's vice-president for research and development.

According to Ugryumov, data from the Czech research centre's study will provide further verification of the quality of TVEL's products.

The infrastructure at the Nuclear Research Centre in Řež includes a light-water research reactor, a technological water loop for simulating conditions in different types of reactors, hot and semi-hot cells for analysing irradiated materials, as well as a number of certified laboratories for mechanical and structural research of irradiated and non-irradiated materials.