Rosatom focused on comprehensive cooperation with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) in the development of fast neutron reactor technology and the back-end fuel cycle. In 2018 Rosatom mastered the industrial production of uranium-plutonium MOX fuel for the BN-800 reactor.
Last January, the fuel division of Rosatom, TVEL JSC and China Nuclear Fuel Co Ltd signed a commercial agreement for the supply of nuclear fuel for the CFR-600 demonstration reactor in China. The contract was concluded within the framework of the implementation of intergovernmental agreements and framework contracts signed by Russia and China on June 8, 2018, during the meeting of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
The contract provides for the supply of uranium fuel for initial loading, as well as for refueling during the first seven years of operation of the CFR-600 reactor. For the fabrication of fuel assemblies at the Machine-Building Plant in the city of Elektrostal, it is planned to create a new production site. Considering that this is a demonstration project for a Chinese customer, Russian experts will produce a new type of fuel according to Chinese design.
