News / Business

Russia to sell nuclear fuel to US

Tuesday, 19 July 2016 4:46 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 19 July 2016 4:47 PM ]

A subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom nuclear corporation has signed a deal to supply nuclear fuel to a US power plant.

Russian media say a subsidiary of the country’s key nuclear corporation Rosatom has sealed a deal with a US nuclear power plant operator to supply Russian nuclear fuel.

"We believe in this project. We know how to make nuclear fuel; it has successfully operated in Western European nuclear power plants. We are not entering the American market with empty hands,” Rosatom CEO Sergey Kirienko has been quoted as saying by Russia Today.

Kirienko added that Rosatom is working in collaboration with GE-Hitachi, adding that a contract has already been signed to send a pilot batch of Russian nuclear fuel to the US.

According to Kirienko, Rosatom sees the importance of the alliance and will provide all the necessary technical details to successfully complete the licensing process with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, RT added.

The report emphasizes that Russia and the US have agreed to create a joint company to promote Russian nuclear fuel at US nuclear power plants.

Rosatom's nuclear fuel subsidiary TVEL and Global Nuclear Fuel Americas will jointly deal with licensing and production of fuel assemblies that will run American nuclear power plants with pressurized water reactors, RT reported. The fuel assemblies will be produced at the plant in Wilmington, North Carolina, it added.

In May, Rosatom said it plans to enter the US nuclear fuel market by 2020 and have 10 percent market share.

Russia has a 17 percent share in the global market of nuclear fuel. It fully covers the needs of Russian reactors and also works in 14 other countries, including Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Armenia and China. The value of Russia’s annual nuclear fuel exports exceeds $1 billion, RT concluded.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk