Rosatom will conduct research on Russian nuclear fuel materials in the Czech Republic

On the grounds of the agreement, Czech scientists will provide experiments on irradiation of nuclear construction materials in the CVŘ research reactor and also accomplish pre-irradiation and post-irradiation studies.

The research will focus on behavior studies of construction materials of nuclear fuel assemblies including zirconium, chrome-nickel and steel alloys, as well as some other prominent materials. Such studies are provided in order to validate operational characteristics of Russian-made nuclear fuel.
“Řež research center has highly professional staff and up-to-date infrastructure for materials science studies for nuclear industry. Considering materials of TVEL fuel assemblies, we are interested in studying their corrosion resistance, creep flow, structural properties, fatigue performance, experiments for dry storage and testing at supercritical water parameters. Besides, the studies data from a major foreign field-specific research center, not belonging to the Russian nuclear industry, will be an additional confirmation of our products quality,” Alexander Ugryumov, Vice-President for Research and Development at TVEL JSC, commented.

CVŘ infrastructure includes a light water research reactor, technological water loops modeling conditions of various reactor types, hot and medium-hot cells for irradiated materials analysis and also a number of certified laboratories for mechanical and structural research of irradiated and non-irradiated materials.

TVEL Fuel Company incorporates enterprises for the fabrication of nuclear fuel, conversion and enrichment of uranium, production of gas centrifuges, as well as research and design organizations. It is the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian nuclear power plants. TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom provides nuclear fuel for 76 power reactors in 15 countries worldwide, research reactors in eight countries, as well as transport reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world operates on fuel manufactured by TVEL.

Centrum výzkumu Řež (CVŘ) ­is a 100% subsidiary of ÚJV Řež a.s. (the Czech Republic), which performs a wide range of applied R&D services in the field of energy, manufacturing and healthcare. ÚJV Řež services are focused on supporting the safe and cost-efficient operation of power plants (primarily nuclear generation), nuclear fuel cycle chemistry, waste management and engineering.