Rosatom to launch three more depleted uranium processing units

ZELENOGORSK /Krasnoyarsk Region/, September 14. /TASS/. Rosatom may launch three more depleted uranium processing units in the medium term, President of TVEL (managing company of the state corporation’s fuel division) Natalya Nikipelova told reporters, adding that they will be based on Russian technology.

The second unit to process depleted uranium was launched at the Electrochemical Plant in Zelenogorsk in Russia’s East Siberian Krasnoyarsk Region earlier on Monday. It will enable the country to double its depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUHF) processing capacity to 20,000 tons annually.

"We clearly see that five [units] will definitely be needed. That means we will build three more units," Nikipelova said. Russian technologies will be used in their construction, she added. While the current unit built using French technology was under construction, work was simultaneously underway to develop a Russian equivalent, TVEL’s head said. "We succeeded with this technology, and now we are going to scale up our own technology," she noted.