Dear colleagues, friends and partners!
Dear colleagues, friends and partners, Despite the restrictions of 2020, ROSATOM’s Fuel Division continued not only to operate during the pandemic but also to develop in all strategic areas. The Division fulfilled its production plan for 2020 and all contractual obligations to partners in full. In 2020, the Fuel Division’s revenue increased by 7.3% to RUB 208.7 billion. And, by the end of 2020, its ten-year portfolio of overseas nuclear orders grew by 13% to USD 15.7 billion.
JSC TVEL’s reactor fleet was expanded in 2020 with two more VVER-1200 modern power units at the Belarusian NPP and Leningrad NPP now using the Company’s nuclear fuel. The first batch of the VVER-440 advanced fuel for Paks NPP was loaded into the reactor. The new fuel will improve fuel efficiency and economics of operations at the power units. With Indian partners, the Division launched a project to transition two operating power units at Kudankulam NPP equipped with VVER-1000 reactors to the new advanced fuel and to extend the fuel cycle up to 18 months. In the research reactor market, contracts were signed for the supply of nuclear fuel and its components to research facilities in the Czech Republic and Egypt.
In 2020, significant progress was made in closing the nuclear fuel cycle. The first batch of MOX fuel was loaded into the BN-800 ‘fast’ reactor. At the Siberian Chemical Plant (JSC SCP) in the Seversk PSEDA, the Fuel Division started a project to launch the fabrication of REMIX fuel for VVER-1000 reactors and initiated the installation of main equipment at the fabrication module for mixed nitride uranium/plutonium (MNUP) fuel for a BREST-OD-300 reactor.
As an industry business integrator responsible for projects on the decommissioning of facilities posing nuclear and radiation hazards, TVEL Fuel Company makes a significant contribution to the sustainable development of its regions of operation. In 2020, the Company also prepared for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities at JSC SCP, JSC Chepetsk Mechanical Plant, JSC VNIINM, PJSC NCCP, JSC AECP and implemented related projects. Besides environmental benefits, these initiatives bring additional revenue to our enterprises and, hence, more tax payments to federal, regional and local budgets.
2020 saw the dynamic development of non-nuclear businesses. Revenue from non-nuclear products increased by 35.4% year-on-year (to RUB 24.2 billion), and revenue from new products grew by 50.1% (to RUB 19.3 billion). Another highlight of 2020 is LLC RusAT’s Additive Manufacturing Centre opened in Moscow. The establishment of LLC RENERA, an industry integrator responsible for energy storage systems, was completed. The company already has a portfolio of contracts and projects implemented. In 2020, the integrator opened a new facility producing energy storage systems at Moscow Polymetal Plant (JSC MZP). In the metals industry, the Fuel Division continued to develop a range of R&D-intensive and innovative product areas. One of the new products of 2020 is permanent magnets for wind power plant generators. The Company’s portfolio of new chemical products increased by more than 100% and exceeded RUB 14 billion.
These results were achieved in unprecedented conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which paralysed many projects and industries worldwide. To fulfill production plans at all enterprises, the Fuel Division took the following measures: remote work for some employees, regular disinfection of premises and the provision of personal protective equipment for employees, the application of non-contact thermometers, mass COVID-19 testing of personnel, and changes in work schedules to ensure social distancing. To fight against the coronavirus in ‘nuclear’ towns and cities, ROSATOM and the Fuel Division allocated more than RUB 700 million. These funds were spent on PCR test centres and laboratory equipment, medical equipment, ambulance vehicles and PPE for local institutions of Russia’s Federal Medical-Biological Agency, sanitisers and expendable supplies for medical treatment, as well as air recirculation units for social facilities.
Despite the changes, we have the same strategic priorities: rapid development of nuclear fuel cycle technologies, dynamic growth of non-nuclear businesses related to high-tech R&D-intensive industries, commitment to sustainable development principles, as well as building effective scientific, commercial and social partnerships.
Natalia Nikipelova
CEO of the Fuel Division,
President of JSC TVEL, the holding company of the Fuel Division