RUSSIA: MAYAK MOX FUEL PRODUCTION FACILITIES

COMPLEX 300 (ALSO KNOWN AS A-300 AND SHOP 300)[1]

ACTIVITIES:

This MOX fabrication plant has been under construction since 1984. In 1991, construction came to a halt.[2, 3] The plant is now about 50 percent complete.[1] The German company Siemens and Russia's Minatom are negotiating for the experimental use of German reprocessing technology at Complex 300.[3] The production complex will fabricate up to 900 MOX fuel assemblies a year for the BN-800 reactors currently under construction at the South Urals and Beloyarsk NPPs.[4] The total cost of the two projects is estimated to be $2.5 billion. Both are expected to be completed by the year 2010.[5] Russia and France are studying the feasibility of building a facility for converting plutonium extracted from weapons into MOX fuel. The facility would annually convert 1,300kg of weapons plutonium into 1.5 MT of MOX to be used in Beloyarsk's BN-600 reactor, and 20 MT of MOX to be used in four reactors at Balakovo NPP. The facility, called TOMOX, may be built on to Complex 300.[1]

Sources:

[1] Ann MacLachlan, "French And Russians Study MOX Plant For Fast Reactors, VVERs," NuclearFuel,  9 October 1995, p. 7.

[2] Thomas Cochran, Robert S. Norris, Oleg Bukharin, Making the Russian Bomb: From Stalin to Yeltsin (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995), pp. 204, 206.

[3]"Siemens otbirayet 'kleb' u rossiyskikh radiokhimikov," Segodnya, 18 January 1996, p. 9.

[4] Valeriy Bogdan, Victor Murogov, Vladimir Kagramanyan, Mikhail Troyanov, "Use of Plutonium in Russia," Yadernyy Kontrol, November 2995, pp. 13-17.

[5] Vladimir Orlov, "Interview Of The Month," Yadernyy Kontrol, July 1995, pp. 10-12.

 

GRANAT PRODUCTION PLANT

ACTIVITIES:

This plant began producing fuel for tests in fast breeder reactors in 1988. Its capacity was 70-80kg of plutonium per year (10 fuel assemblies/year).[1] In 1997, Granat was shut down for safety reasons and as of May 2001 remains closed.[2]

Sources:

[1] Thomas Cochran, Robert S. Norris, Oleg Bukharin, Making the Russian Bomb: From Stalin to Yeltsin (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995), p. 92.

[2] NISNP email correspondence with US Department of Energy official, April 2001. {Updated 4/30/01 GD}

 

PAKET PRODUCTION PLANT

ACTIVITIES:

Paket uses the MOX fuel produced by Granat to produce fuel pellets and fuel rods for testing in fast breeder reactors. The plant's capacity is 10 fuel assemblies/year,[1] or by weight, 300kg fuel/year.[2] In 1993, Paket produced 100kg of fuel. The plant is currently under reconstruction to produce 40 MOX fuel assemblies/year for the BN-600 FBR.[2] As of November 1995, Paket had produced MOX fuel assemblies containing a total of 350kg of weapons-grade plutonium that were tested in the BN-350 reactor. Plans exist to modernize Paket's test facilities to fulfill Gosatomnadzor's safety requirements.[3]

Sources:

[1] Thomas Cochran, Robert S. Norris, Oleg Bukharin, Making the Russian Bomb: From Stalin to Yeltsin (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995), p. 92.

[2] "World Nuclear Industry Handbook 1995," Nuclear Engineering International, p. 124.

[3] Valeriy Bogdan, Victor Murogov, Vladimir Kagramanyan, Mikhail Troyanov, "Use of Plutonium in Russia," Yadernyy Kontrol, November 1995, pp. 13-17.

 

PILOT BAY

ACTIVITIES:

This area of Mayak was used to manufacture pilot fuel pellets and fuel rods for fast-neutron research reactors in the 1960s and 1970s.  During that time, a total of approximately 1MT of weapons-grade plutonium, in the form of alloys and PuO2, was used in fuel production.

[Thomas Cochran, Robert S. Norris, Oleg Bukharin, Making the Russian Bomb: From Stalin to Yeltsin (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995), p. 92.] {Entered 4/20/99 LBN}

 

ZHEMCHUG PLANT

ACTIVITIES:

This plant has been shut down.  It manufactured MOX fuel for fast reactors from 1986-1987, and had a capacity of five fuel assemblies per year, using fuel made from weapons-grade plutonium from BN reactors.

[Thomas Cochran, Robert S. Norris, Oleg Bukharin, Making the Russian Bomb: From Stalin to Yeltsin (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995), p. 92.]

 

MAYAK MOX FUEL DEVELOPMENTS:

 

For more information on MOX fuel developments in general, please see the MOX fuel developments and the Plutonium Disposition section.

 

4/23/2001: MAYAK DIRECTOR REPORTS SUCCESSFUL TESTING OF MOX FUEL FROM WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM 

On 23 April 2001, PO Mayak Director Vitaliy Sadovnikov reported in his interview to ITAR-TASS that MOX fuel manufactured at Mayak from weapons-grade plutonium had been successfully tested in the BN-600 fast neutron reactor at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant. Mayak, according to the report, continues to develop technology to convert weapons-origin plutonium into "a peaceful product." Sadovnikov added that the Fissile Material Storage Facility at Mayak, upon its completion, would be able to safely store fissile material from dismantled nuclear warheads for over 100 years.

["Spetsialisty khimkombinata "Mayak" sozdali teplovydelyayushchyuyusya sborku dlya AES na osnove oruzheynogo plutoniya," ITAR-TASS, 23 April 2001; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.] {Entered 4/27/2001 ES}

 

7/2000 PLAN TO EXPORT GERMAN MOX PRODUCTION FACILITY TO MAYAK IN QUESTION

As of July 2000, the German government continues to face a serious dilemma regarding the proposed export of the unused Siemens MOX production plant in Hanau to Russia.  The new policy to phase out nuclear energy may require the revision of the German Federal Nuclear Law, which would eliminate the promotion of nuclear energy from Germany's international commitments and end German funding of programs which advance the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Although the German government is a strong advocate of the elimination of Russian weapons-grade plutonium, facilitating the development of MOX technology in Russia would conflict with Germany's new nuclear energy policy. According to German sources, recent issues between the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of the Environment and Nuclear Safety  will delay any proposal to export the Hanau MOX production facility to Russia until after the facility has been dismantled.  Although all other G-8 countries support the plan to convert Russian weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel, the German government cannot make a decision in favor of MOX fuel fabrication without having first considered other alternatives such as plutonium immobilization. The G-8 will discuss the Russian plutonium disposition issue at the summit in Okinawa 21-23 July 2000, although no formal decision will be made at that time.[1] So far, the German government has not yet received any official application for an export license for the Hanau MOX facility from Siemens or the Russian government. German experts continue to discuss the export dilemma as well as the more costly option of funding the vitrification of Russian weapons-grade plutonium.[2]

Sources:

[1] Mark Hibbs and Ann MacLachlan, "Berlin Not Prepared To Support MOX Plan In Russia; G-8 Won't Decide," NuclearFuel, Vol. 25, No. 13, 26 June 2000.

[2] Hans Riebsamen, "Der Export der Hanauer Mox-Fabrik koennte die Loesung sein," Frankfurter Allgemeine, 2 July 2000, p. 2; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com. {Entered 07/11/00 NEB}

 

6/29/2000: COGEMA ANNOUNCES NEW PROGRAM FOR CONSTRUCTION OF MOX FABRICATION PLANT AT MAYAK

During a conference held in the week of 19 June 2000 and organized by the Nuclear Society of Russia, Laurent Corbier, US-Russia business director for Cogema's nuclear fuel and recycling branch said that the July 2000 G8 summit participants in Japan will consider investment plans for a MOX fuel fabrication plant in Russia.  A trilateral Russian-French-German working group has confirmed preliminary investment costs of $800 million for the facility.  The new program unveiled by the working group contains plans to complete construction of the fabrication facility around 2007 or 2008 and load of MOX fuel in reactors at a rate of 2MT of plutonium per year starting in 2009.  The four-stage program begins with construction of a Chemox conversion module at the Mayak Production Association to convert metallic plutonium alloy into dioxide powder.  The second stage includes construction of a Demox fuel fabrication module that will fabricate MOX fuel for VVER-1000 power reactors and the BN-600 fast neutron reactor located at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant.  Both modules will use equipment from the now-defunct Hanau MOX fuel plant in Germany, provided that the German government grants the appropriate export licenses.  Cogema, Siemens, and the Bochvar All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Inorganic Materials will evaluate the necessary modifications to Russian feed material and fuel specifications.  The third stage of the program involves modifying at least four Russian VVER-1000 power reactors for MOX fuel use, which would allow a 30% MOX core load without any effect on safety levels.  This modification will require a full-scale test irradiation of three test assemblies in the Balakovo nuclear power plant beginning in 2004.  The fourth stage stipulates the use of a 25% MOX core load in the BN-600 fast breeder reactor with no significant modifications to the reactor.

["Plutonium Agreement Boosts Russian MOX Fuel Plant Scheme," RANSAC Nuclear News, 26 June 2000, pp. 3-4.] {Entered 06/29/00 YF}

 

10/20/97:  MAYAK, SRIAR COMPETE FOR MOX FACILITY

According to a NuclearFuel report, the Scientific and Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (SRIAR) and the Mayak Chemical Combine are competing to establish a domestic program to create mixed-oxide (MOX) nuclear reactor fuel from Russia's 150 MT of excess weapons-grade plutonium.  Both facilities have only experimented, however, with MOX fuel production.  Mayak's Granat facility is capable of using 70-80 kg of plutonium per year, and its Paket facility can use up to 80 kg of plutonium per year to produce MOX fuel.  Mayak began construction on the Complex 300 MOX fuel processing facility, but it remains only half completed.  Another MOX fuel facility for processing used and weapons-grade plutonium is still "on the drawing board."  None of Mayak's facilities, however, are considered to be "in good condition" by European and US safety standards.  SRIAR creates up to 50 MOX fuel assemblies per year for BN-600 reactors using vibropacking, a unique technology first used in Russia in 1975.  SRIAR Director Valentin Ivanov stated that Mayak, the facility from which SRIAR has always received 3 MT weapons-grade plutonium per year, has begun to charge SRIAR for plutonium, thereby negatively impacting SRIAR's ability to make 50 MOX fuel assemblies per year. Russian officials have blamed US foreign policy for "forcing Mayak to sell its plutonium."  Japan has expressed interest in building a MOX fuel processing plant in Russia, using SRIAR technology.  Ivanov stated that the plant would probably be constructed at Mayak, rather than in Dimitrovgrad, since SRIAR is "not a commercial site."  Siemens and Cogema also want to construct their Demox pilot MOX plant in Russia, but Russian officials remain suspicious of Europeans controlling their MOX fuel industry. In September 1997, at the eighth annual Russian Nuclear Society conference in Yekaterinburg, the Board of Directors stated that Russia should cooperate with foreign firms establishing plants to burn Russia's excess weapons-grade plutonium, although some felt that Russia should develop a parallel MOX fuel industry.

[Mark Hibbs, "Russian Labs Vying To Set Up Domestic MOX Production Program," NuclearFuel, 20 October 1997, pp. 10-12.] {Entered 11/10/98 LBN} 

 

3/97: RUSSIA TO BUILD MOX PLANT WITH INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Russia plans to enter into a joint venture with France and Germany to build a MOX fuel fabrication plant and a pilot plant. The plant will use Russian weapons-grade plutonium to make fuel rods for Russian nuclear power plants. Russia unofficially told Germany that the amount of weapons-grade plutonium, surplus to defense needs, is about 50 metric tons.[1] Three MOX fuel assemblies will first be tested at the Balakovo nuclear power plant. The Mayak Chemical Combine will be the site of a demonstration MOX fuel production facility. The final MOX plant is expected to process about 1.3 metric tons of plutonium per year.[2] Construction is set to begin in 1999, and the plant will begin operations in 2001.[3]

Sources:

[1] DDP/ADN, 3/25/97; in "Franco-German Participation in Russian Plutonium Project," FBIS-WEU-97-084.

[2] "International Plans for Russian MOX," Nuclear Engineering International, 3/97, p. 6.

[3] BBC Monitoring Summary of World Broadcasts, 5/16/97, Uranium Institute Information Service Online Edition, http://www.uilondon.org, No. NB97.20-26.

 

9/7/95: CANADA MAY USE RUSSIAN PLUTONIUM FROM DISMANTLED NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR CANDU REACTORS

It was reported that Canadian industry is examining the possibility of using plutonium from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons as fuel in Canada's CANDU reactors. The study is planned for completion by mid-1996. Russia and Canada will examine the possibility of producing MOX fuel at a facility in Chelyabinsk. Construction of the facility was halted in 1988.

Sources:

[1] Mark Hibbs, "Russian Plutonium Proposal Expected By AECL In Nine Months," Nucleonics Week, 7 Spetember 1995, p. 10.

[2] Ray Silver, "Hydro Nuclear Manager Advocates Change In Bruce Retubing Schedule," Nucleonics Week, 24 August 1995, p. 11.
 

2/95: MOX PRODUCTION FACILITY TO BE BUILT AT CHELYABINSK

Germany's Reactor Safety Company (GRS) and Minatom signed an agreement to build a MOX production facility at Chelyabinsk in order to convert Russia's weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel for use as fuel in Russian and Western reactors.

[Wolfgang Pollack, Welt am Sonntag, "Russians Want To Make Civilian Use Of Weapons-Grade Plutonium With the Help of German Technology," 5 February 1995, p. 7.]