Novosibirsk Plant of Chemical Concentrates OJSC (NPCC) launches a new line of uranium dioxide powder production

The event was attended by President of TVEL Fuel Company Yuri Olenin and Gov-ernor of Novosibirsk region Viktor Tolonsky.
The schedule for the HPR site development was approved by the authorities of TVEL OJSC in August, 2007. In 2010 all construction works were performed, the equipment was installed and the site was officially put into commissioning and start-up.
During the opening ceremony Viktor Tolonsky confirmed the presence at NPCC of the latest technologies which significantly influence operational efficiency. “This is a qualitative upgrading of the economy”. He stressed that the nuclear power industry was a new line of national production. «The nuclear power branch represents the whole industry. It creates orders for science. This is what we call innovation,» he said. Tolokonsky B. noted that the region would support those investment projects and additional mechanisms would be developed for it.
Yuri Olenin said that the commissioning of that line was a good platform for eco-nomic and professional development. He informed that the investments for the line development had been generally taken from NPCC income which had become possible due to realization of the program on labor efficiency upgrading and cost saving (“New Look” program). In addition, Olenin Yu. stressed that the modernization would be also held at other enterprises of TVEL Fuel Company. In particular, a similar line will be introduced at NPCC.
The project investments comprised more than 800 million rubles. The designed ca-pacity of the line of uranium dioxide powder production is equal to 400 tons per year, and it is to be gained at the end of 2010. The HRP line of Novosibirsk Plant of Chemical Concentrates is a national pilot system. About 60% of equipment was pro-duced by Russian industrial enterprises, including those integrated in TVEL Fuel Company. Machine-Building Plant OJSC (Elektrostal city), Chepetsk Mechanical Plant OJSC (Glazov city), Ural Electrochemical Integrated Plant OJSC (Novouralsk city), Novosibirsk Plant of Chemical Concentrates and their affiliated structures are among the project performers.
The HRP method in the uranium dioxide powder production will help by a significant amount reduce the prime cost of the final product in comparison with the extraction scheme used by the enterprise up to the present moment. It will happen generally due to maximum technological-process automation. In addition, the operating effi-ciency of new equipment will by 3 fold exceed the efficiency of the existing lines.
The commissioning of the HRP site will help to reduce the load of nuclear materials into the technological equipment and lower the amount of work in progress.
One of the merits of the new scheme is lowering of environmental pressure and mi-nimization of toxic industrial waste.

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Novosibirsk Plant of Chemical Concentrates OJSC is an enterprise of Rosatom State Corporation (www.rosatom.ru) – one of the leading Russian manufacturers of nuclear fuel for Russian and foreign NPPs. In 2010 the enterprise will be integrated into the Fuel Company the establishment of which is performed on the basis of TVEL OJSC.
TVEL OJSC is specialized in development, production and sales (including export) of nuclear fuel, as well as corresponding nuclear and nonnuclear products.
The fuel company is established to develop an optimal management structure for nuclear fuel cy-cle enterprises in order to improve performance efficiency and competitiveness in the global mar-ket of products and services of the nuclear fuel cycle and totally satisfy the demands of Russian and foreign customers. During the first stage the Fuel Company will join the enterprises for gas centrifuges production, separation-sublimat and fuel fabrication plants.