Uranium Enrichment and Fuel Fabrication - Current Issues (Asia)
(last updated 23 Apr 2012)
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China and Belgium sign agreement on construction of pilot MOX fuel fabrication plant in China
China and Belgium have signed a framework agreement on the construction of a pilot MOX fuel fabrication plant in China.
The framework agreement defines the context for construction of a pilot plant to produce mixed oxide nuclear fuel (MOX) and for the use of MOX in Chinese nuclear reactors. A commercial agreement including technology transfer and technical assistance could soon follow, according to Belgian partners Belgonucléaire 
, SCK-CEN and Tractebel . The plant would be built by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) with the support of the Belgian companies.
(World Nuclear News Oct. 7, 2010)
AECL, China conclude agreement on development of CANDU fuel from spent light water reactor fuel
On Nov. 3, 2008, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) formalized an advanced nuclear fuel development agreement with China's Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Co. (TQNPC), China North Nuclear Fuel Corporation and Nuclear Power Institute of China.
The agreement is to jointly develop the technology for the use of uranium
recovered from the spent fuel of light water reactors in China, and to be used
in the CANDU reactors in China, located southwest of Shanghai. The planned
development program will involve scientists and engineers from Canada and
China but would not be implemented in Canada.
Russia to set up another gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant in China
China is building a gas centrifuge enrichment plant successfully by using Russia's technology, head of the Rosatom Nuclear Energy State Corporation, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex, said.
China is planning to put the plant into operation in 2012, Sergei Kiriyenko said.
(Zee News Aug. 31, 2010)
On May 23, 2008, Chinese and Russian officials signed a $1 billion deal to have Moscow build a nuclear fuel enrichment plant in China and supply uranium.
The deal calls for Russia to build a $500 million nuclear fuel enrichment plant and supply semi-enriched uranium worth at least $500 million.
(AP May 23, 2008)
Russia signed an agreement with China to set up another gas centrifuge enrichment facility in China with an annual capacity of 500,000 separative work units (SWU), a Tenex spokesman said.
Under a 1992 deal, Russia helped China set up two centrifuge facilities with an annual capacity of 200,000 and 300,000 SWU respectively in Hanzhong, a city about 900 km southwest of Beijing. (Gulf Times Nov. 7, 2007)
Yibin nuclear fuel plant to double capacity to 800 t/a: Recently, the Proposal for Nuclear Fuel Element Production Line Expansion Project of China Jianzhong Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd. (CJNF) has been official approved by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense agreeing on the initiation of the project. The implementation of the project will add 400 tons of uranium per year to the production capacity to meet future needs of the nuclear power development for fuel elements in China.
(CNNC July 19, 2010)
China's Yibin nuclear fuel fabrication facility has reached an annual output of 400 tonnes per year, according to the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).
(WNN Oct. 30, 2008)
Hanau MOX fuel plant equipment to be used for manufacture of fast breeder fuel
China is planning to use the equipment from the never operated Siemens Hanau MOX fuel production plant for a planned MOX fuel plant at Lanzhou. The German government has made no decision yet on an export license for the equipment, however.
The MOX fuel is to be used in fast breeder reactors to be built. A 65 MW fast breeder research reactor is currently under construction at Fangshan near Beijing and shall be operable from 2007. The plutonium required for the MOX fuel is to be recovered from the spent fuel of China's eight conventional reactors, though a commercial reprocessing plant not yet exists. The excess plutonium to be breeded in the fast breeder reactor would be highly weapons grade. (Frankfurter Rundschau March 13/16, 2004)
First stage of Lanzhou centrifuge enrichment plant completed early
The third line of a centrifuge enrichment plant in China is finished, two years ahead of the date stipulated in the 1992 contract between Chinese and Russian nuclear industry, according to the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy. The new plant is located about 25 km north of Lanzhou, in Gansu Province, and has a capacity of 500,000 SWU per year. The first and second stages of the plant, located in Hanjun, in the same province, were put into operation in March 1998 and April 2000 respectively. Furthermore, another 500,000 SWU per year is to be added subsequently at Lanzhou.
(Platts Nov. 12, 2001; Nuclear Fuel May 17, 1999)
Russia delivers first centrifuges for fourth stage of Hanzhong centrifuge enrichment plant
Russia's Atomenergoprom has delivered the first centrifuges for the fourth construction stage of the Hanzhong enrichment plant. China committed itself to use the enriched uranium only for its own purposes.
(RIA Novosti May 4, 2009)
India and Russia consider plan for nuclear fuel plant in India
India and Russia are considering the setting up of a joint venture to produce nuclear fuel in India, Russia's nuclear chief said.
"A project to build a factory in India for the production of nuclear fuel is under consideration," Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko said in the wake of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to India.
The possibility of setting up a nuclear fuel facility in India is envisaged in the Inter-Government Agreement on Cooperation in the use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purpose, signed on Friday (Mar. 12) in New Delhi.
(The Hindu Mar. 14, 2010)
India and Russia sign civil nuclear agreement, ensuring nuclear fuel supply
India and Russia have sealed a breakthrough long-term pact for expanding civil nuclear cooperation that is free from any restrictions on India and guarantees it against any curbs in the future.
Under the agreement signed on Monday (Dec. 7), Russia will set up more nuclear reactors in India, transfer the full range of nuclear energy technologies and ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel.
(The Hindu Dec. 8, 2009)
Russia delivers first batch of heavy water reactor fuel to India
Russia's TVEL, a subsidiary of state-controlled nuclear power company Atomenergoprom, has delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel for Indian heavy-water reactors, Atomenergoprom said.
"Thirty metric tons of pellets were delivered to the nuclear fuel complex in Hyderabad for further conversion into fuel for the Rajasthan nuclear power plant," the company said.
In line with a $700 million contract signed February 11, 2009, with New Delhi on fuel supplies to Indian nuclear power plants, Russia is to supply India with 2,000 metric tons of uranium pellets.
(RIA Novosti April 10, 2009)
The first consignment of 40 cylinders of enriched uranium from Russia has arrived at the Koodankulam atomic power station in Tamil Nadu on May 28, 2008, station project director K C Purohit told reporters.
He said another batch of 163 cylinders would arrive from Russia in the coming months.
The enriched uranium fuel is in the form of final fuel assembly and it will be loaded into a reactor by October 2008, he said.
He said works on two Russian reactors called VVER-1000 were progressing and it was likely to be commissioned by January 2009.
(PTI May 30, 2008)
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India appears to expand its military gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility
Google Earth recently posted satellite imagery from GeoEye taken on March 3, 2010 of the Rare Materials Plant (RMP) in India. This is the site of India's military gas centrifuge uranium enrichment program. In the new imagery, initial excavation and construction of a large building or buildings can be seen. While the construction is in its early stages in this image, the size of the building or buildings to be constructed indicates that these will be large industrial buildings. A DigitalGlobe satellite image from 2005 shows the same area as undeveloped with several adjacent ponds.
Based on procurement data and public advertisements for bidding requests, Paul Brannan of Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) concluded in 2006 that India was on the verge of adding at least 3,000 centrifuges to the RMP1. If the construction seen in the March 3, 2010 imagery is for a new gas centrifuge hall, India’s uranium enrichment capacity at RMP will be greatly expanded.
Since the 1970s, India has pursued gas centrifuges to enrich uranium. The history and current status of India’s gas centrifuge program has been a long-held state secret. ISIS has been producing reports that trace the history of India’s centrifuge enrichment program and assess its current and projected enrichment capacity based on open sources, information from interviews with Indian and other government officials, and publicly available procurement data.
The Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) commissioned India's main enrichment plant, codenamed the Rare Materials Project (RMP), around 1990. In addition to a gas centrifuge facility, this site, located about 19 kilometers from Mysore, may also contain a uranium hexafluoride production facility. As per ISIS, by 1997, after several years of difficulty, India seems to have achieved a technical breakthrough at RMP. Although India has experienced difficulties in building centrifuges, it now appears to be competent at constructing centrifuges comparable to those common in Europe in the 1970s. ISIS concluded in 2007 that, India is currently operating between 2,000 and 3,000 centrifuges at the RMP. The DAE in 2007 was attempting to expand the number of centrifuges at RMP by 3,000, increasing RMP's capacity by at least 15,000 separative work units (SWU) per year, a common measure of the output of a uranium enrichment plant and more than double its current output.
The Indian government designated its gas centrifuge enrichment facilities, such as RMP, as military sites under the framework of US-India nuclear cooperation. Thus, India is unlikely to use these facilities to create fuel for the Tarapur boiling water reactors, which will be designated as civilian facilities. India is currently importing sufficient amounts of low enriched uranium (LEU) to fuel the Tarapur reactors. These reactors could have otherwise absorbed the RMP's capacity.
As a result of its recently acquired ability to import LEU, India can devote the enrichment capacity of RMP to highly enriched uranium (HEU) for military applications. As per ISIS in 2007, India would most likely use the HEU for fuel in submarine reactors and in thermonuclear weapons. The production of thermonuclear weapons may lead India to conduct additional underground nuclear tests as it seeks to make more deliverable, reliable, and efficient weapons.
(Frontier India June 2, 2010)
India develops fourth generation uranium enrichment gas centrifuges
As part of India's strategic programme, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed fourth generation uranium enrichment gas centrifuges with an output of more than 10 times the earlier design, a top BARC official has said.
"An experimental cascade of the fourth generation design is in operation at BARC and will soon be ready for induction at the Rare Materials Plant (RMP) in Ratnahalli near Mysore," BARC director Sreekumar Banerjee said.
"The Third generation design with 5 times more output than earlier designs are presently being inducted at RMP," he said.
(Business Standard Oct. 31, 2008 )
A massive increase in indigenous fuel production is on the cards to meet the country's ambitious nuclear energy programme, with the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) firming up plans to establish a Rs. 10 billion [US$ 216 million] plant in Rajasthan and proposing to set up joint ventures for fuel fabrication with American, Russian and French companies.
NFC chief executive R.N. Jayaraj said the pre-project activities were in full swing for establishing a 500-tonne NFC plant at Rawatbhata, near Kota.
(The Hindu Oct. 13, 2009)
Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC)
Blast in Hyderabad Nuclear Fuel Complex
On Nov. 17, 2002, a blast occurred in the chemical plant used for uranium purification. The top lid of the process plant hit the asbestos sheet roof, which fell off. Seven persons were working in the plant at the time, but no one was injured. Uranium-bearing liquid contained in the plant spilled onto the ground and collected in a pit. It was later taken back into the process plant.
After the blast, the Health Physics Unit of the NFC monitored the area and declared there was no airborne activity and people were allowed to resume their work in the other plants at the NFC. (Rediff Nov. 18, 2002)
On April 22, 2003, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) permitted the resumption of operation of the wet section of Natural Uranium Oxide Fuel Plant (NUOFP) of the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) in Hyderabad. The Board had suspended its operation on November 20, 2003, pending inquiry into the reasons of a chemical explosion.
A specialist investigation committee of the AERB confirmed that the explosion was due to what is known as "Red Oil Reaction" — uncontrolled chemical reaction involving hot organic liquid and aqueous nitrate solution. The committee observed that the necessary conditions such as presence of nitrate, organic liquids and temperature for causing the reaction existed in the evaporator at the wet section of the plant at the time of the incident. The NFC management has now modified the process to exclude the evaporation step. (The Hindu, April 23, 2003)
Iran is developing secret uranium-enrichment site, dissident group claims
Iran is developing a secret uranium enrichment site near Qazvin, 120 miles west of Tehran, a dissident group said today (Sep. 9), citing satellite images of the area.
The facility is called Behjatad-Abyek and is code-named 311, according to the Iran Policy Committee, which supports the anti-regime People's Mujahedeen of Iran.
"This is certainly part of the secret weapons program," said Alireza Jafarzadeh, who presented the photos at a Washington press conference. "It's just moved underground, in tunnels, hidden from the outside world."
The Iranian government has spent $100 million on the mountainous site, where the photos, taken as far back as 2008 and as recently as last month, show excavation and tunneling, the group said.
Jafarzadeh said intelligence information the group obtained indicates the facility could accommodate thousands of enrichment centrifuges, and construction at the site will be finished this year.
(Bloomberg Sep. 9, 2010)
Report: Iran seeking to smuggle raw uranium from Kazakhstan
> View here
IAEA Board requests Director General to refer Iran to Security Council
On Feb. 4, 2006, the IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution requesting the Director General to report to the UN Security Council all IAEA reports and resolutions, as adopted, relating to the implementation of safeguards in Iran.
> Download Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Resolution adopted on 4 February 2006 (PDF)
IAEA resolution demands Iran suspend uranium enrichment
A 35-nation meeting of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency on Sep. 18, 2004, demanded that Iran suspend all aspects of uranium enrichment, setting an indirect November, 2004, deadline for Tehran to heed its conditions.
A resolution approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors said it "considers it necessary" that Iran freeze all uranium enrichment and related programs.
It also said it "strongly urges" Iran to meet all demands by the agency in its investigation of the country's nearly two decades of clandestine nuclear activity, including unrestricted access to sites, information and personnel that can shed light on still unanswered questions on whether Tehran was interested in the atom for nuclear weapons.
(AP Sep. 18, 2004)
> Download Resolution GOV/2004/79 (Sep. 18, 2004) (PDF)
Iran signs accord allowing unannounced inspections of nuclear facilities
On December 18, 2003, Iran signed a key accord opening its nuclear facilities to unfettered and unannounced inspections. The agreement, tacked on to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, requires Iran to submit to intrusive and surprise U.N. inspections of its nuclear complexes and research facilities.
(AP Dec. 18, 2003)
Iran used Urenco centrifuge design
Iran has acknowledged to the U.N. its uranium enrichment centrifuge program is based on a European firm's designs that appear identical to ones used in Pakistan's quest for an atom bomb, diplomats say.
Tehran, accused by Washington of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, told the U.N. nuclear agency it got the blueprints from a "middleman" whose identity the agency had not determined, a Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
It was unclear where the "middleman" got the drawings. The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said in a report Iran told the IAEA it got centrifuge drawings "from a foreign intermediary around 1987."
Several diplomats familiar with the IAEA said the blueprints were of a machine by the Dutch enrichment unit of the British-Dutch-German consortium Urenco.
(Reuters Nov. 27, 2003)
IAEA Board adopts resolution on Iran
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Resolution adopted by the Board on 26 November 2003, GOV/2003/81 (PDF)
Report by the Director General to the Board, 10 November 2003, GOV/2003/75 (PDF)
On Oct. 21, 2003, Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and give inspectors unrestricted access to its nuclear facilities as demanded by the IAEA, a step that could ease the standoff over fears Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons.
(AP Oct. 21, 2003)
Aerial view: Google Maps
On Aug. 8, 2005, Iran resumed uranium conversion at its facility near Isfahan under IAEA supervision, a move EU officials have warned will probably see its nuclear case sent to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
Iran had agreed to suspend all nuclear fuel work in November 2004 as part of a deal with the European Union while both sides explored a long-term arrangement for Iran's nuclear programme. But, on Aug. 6, 2005, Iran rejected an EU proposal offering it economic and political incentives to halt nuclear fuel work for good.
(Reuters Aug. 8, 2005)
Iran has inaugurated a conversion plant for uranium in the central city of Isfahan, Iranian nuclear officials said on March 27, 2004. The facility began operation "some time ago," a senior official at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on condition of anonymity.
(AP March 27, 2004)
Some information on the processes and capacities of the project was given by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Vice President for Nuclear Fuel Production M. Ghannadi-Maragheh at the WNA Annual Symposium 3-5 September 2003 in London:
- Conversion of 300 t/a of U3O8 to 480 t/a AUC (ammonium uranyl carbonate).
- Conversion of 480 t/a AUC via UO2 to 282 t/a UF4. About 95% of the UF4 will be used to produce UF6 and 5% to produce uranium ingot.
- Conversion of 265 t/a of UF4 to 285 t/a UF6.
- Conversion of about 250t of depleted UF6 to 223 t/a depleted UF4 to "simplify waste management".
- Production of F2 by electrolyzing of HF and KHF2.
- Production of 11.3 t/a natural, and 34 t/a enriched UO2 powder.
A Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) is close to inauguration at Isfahan in central Iran, according to Gholamreza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation. (Reuters Feb. 12, 2003)
Aerial view: Google Maps
Report: Iran begins uranium enrichment at new site near Qom
Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site well protected from possible airstrikes, a leading hardline newspaper reported Sunday (Jan. 8).
Kayhan daily, which is close to Iran's ruling clerics, said Tehran has begun injecting uranium gas into sophisticated centrifuges at the Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom.
(AP Jan. 8, 2012)
International Atomic Energy Agency's board censures construction of enrichment plant in Iran
The UN nuclear watchdog censured Iran on Friday (Nov. 27) and demanded it immediately halt construction of a newly-revealed uranium enrichment plant as world powers united against Tehran.
China and Russia joined forces with Britain, France, Germany and the United States to push through the resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency's board.
(AFP Nov. 27, 2009)
> View IAEA release Nov. 27, 2009
> Download IAEA Board of Governors resolution Nov. 27, 2009 (PDF)
Iran reveals existence of second uranium enrichment plant
Iran has revealed the existence of a second uranium enrichment plant, the UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed.
Tehran made the announcement earlier this week in a letter to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohammed ElBaradei.
The New York Times quotes US officials as saying that the secret site - built inside a mountain near the ancient city of Qom - is not yet complete, but could be ready for operation next year.
(BBC Sep. 25, 2009)
Aerial view: Google Maps
"I am proud to announce that we have started enriching uranium to the 3.5 percent level," Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI ), said on April 11, 2006, adding that the pilot enrichment plant in Natanz, south of Tehran, had started working on April 10, 2006.
Influential former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said earlier on April 11, 2006, that Iran was producing enriched uranium from a cascade of 164 centrifuges.
(Reuters Apr. 11, 2006)
International inspectors visiting Iran were shown a small network of centrifuges for enriching uranium, spurring concerns that Iran is making headway in its suspected program to develop nuclear weapons. The site in question is near the city of Natanz [located between Isfahan and Kashan in central Iran]. (New York Times Feb. 23, 2003)
First steps have been taken to build an uranium centrifuge enrichment plant at Kashan in central Iran, according to Gholamreza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation. (Reuters Feb. 12, 2003)
> View details on Natanz enrichment plant: ISIS · GlobalSecurity.org
Aerial view: Google Maps
Isfahan nuclear fuel plant completed:
Tehran is capable of making its own nuclear fuel plates and rods, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on Saturday (Jan. 8), according to Fars News Agency.
"We have built an advanced manufacturing unit at Isfahan for the fuel plates," Ali-Akbar Salehi said.
"A grand transformation has taken place in the production of [nuclear] plates and rods. With the completion of the unit in Isfahan, we are one of the few countries which can produce fuel rods and fuel plates."
(RIA Novosti Jan. 8, 2011)
On Apr. 9, 2009, Iran inaugurated a new nuclear fuel plant at Isfahan. The plant is to produce uranium oxide fuel for a planned heavy water reactor. The reactor is to start operation in 2010, at the latest.
(APA Apr. 9, 2009)
Some information on the project was given by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Vice President for Nuclear Fuel Production M. Ghannadi-Maragheh at the WNA Annual Symposium 3-5 September 2003 in London:
The projected annual production capacity of the Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) is 30-35 metric tonnes in the preliminary phase, extendable to 120 tonnes of fuel production for nuclear power plants and 20 tonnes for research reactors.
A plant to produce fuel casings for uranium is close to completion in Isfahan in central Iran, according to Gholamreza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation. (Reuters Feb. 12, 2003)
Japan's utilities fail to report plans for plutonium usage
The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan has violated government policy by failing to compile a plan on how it intends to use the half ton of plutonium it expects to extract from spent fuel in fiscal 2012, sources said Saturday (Apr. 21).
The deadline was March 31, when fiscal 2011 ended. Without a plan, Japan could come under international fire again for its blatant lack of transparency, given the risks of the plutonium being diverted for nuclear weapons use or terrorism.
In 2010, the federation said that by the end of March 2016, 5.5 to 6.5 tons of plutonium will be used each year at 16 to 18 of the reactors across Japan, but the viability of the project has been threatened by the Fukushima disaster.
(The Japan Times Apr. 23, 2012)
Russia, Japan sign agreement on nuclear fuel supply
Russia and Japan signed an intergovernmental nuclear cooperation deal on Tuesday (May 12, 2009) during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Tokyo.
The agreement opens the door for cooperation in the field of nuclear fuel cycle services and the construction of nuclear power plants.
Russia's nuclear chief said that the signing of the intergovernmental civilian nuclear power agreement would clear the way for Russia to supply low-enriched uranium to Japan worth hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.
(RIA Novosti May 12, 2009)
Atomenergoprom and Toshiba consider construction of enrichment plant in Japan
Russia's Atomenergoprom and Japan's Toshiba Corporation are considering the joint construction in either Japan or another country of a uranium enrichment plant based on Russia's highly effective gas centrifuge technology, according to Atomenergoprom's press office.
(RBC Mar 19, 2009)
Japanese government releases first detailed English translation of plutonium holdings report
In response to a request from Citizens' Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) , for the first time the Japanese government has published a detailed English translation of its plutonium holdings report (as at 31 December 2006). The data includes input-output balance sheets.
The latest report includes data for the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant for
the first time. Active testing using spent fuel began at Rokkasho on 31
March 2006 and the first plutonium-uranium mixed oxide product (MOX)
was produced on 16 November 2006.
> Download The Current Situation of Plutonium Management in Japan, 18 September 2007 (88k PDF - in English, Atomic Energy Commission)
Plutonium separated from Japanese spent fuel continues to be piled up
On 23 February 2007 the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPCO) published a compilation of Japan's electric power companies' "plutonium utilization plans" for the 2007 Fiscal Year (1 April 2007 - 31 March 2008).
Once again no indication is given of by when the plutonium separated at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant will be used up. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the plutonium separated at Rokkasho will simply increase the size of Japan's already huge plutonium stockpile (43.1 tons at last count).
> View: Japan's Plutonium Use Plan, 2007 Fiscal Year (CNIC)
Japan shelves laser uranium enrichment method
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
has decided to shelve its research and development on laser uranium
enrichment technology used to produce fuel for nuclear power,
ministry officials said on Oct. 2, 2001. The decision reflects questions about the technology's applicability and economic feasibility. Since the late 1980s, the government has spent more than 50 billion yen and the power industry over 15 billion yen on developing laser
uranium enrichment technology.
The ministry will turn its focus to enhancing the efficiency of the
existing centrifugation technology. The uranium enrichment factory of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. in Rokkasho village, Aomori Prefecture -- scheduled to be expanded in 2010 with laser uranium enrichment technology -- plans to use an improved centrifugation method.
(Kyodo Oct 2, 2001)
JNFL starts operating new centrifuges at Rokkasho-mura uranium enrichment plant
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. started on Wednesday (Dec. 28) the operation of new, more efficient centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture.
After a warm-up operation, the centrifuges -- each capable of processing enrichment four to five times more efficiently than a previous one -- will start producing uranium products around March, the company said.
In one year of operation, the new centrifuges can enrich one-third of uranium required for a 1-gigawatt reactor per year, according to the operator.
Japan Nuclear Fuel plans to replace all old units with new ones over the next decade at the enrichment facility that went on-stream in 1992.
(Mainichi Daily News Dec. 29, 2011)
On March 9, 2012, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) announced the commencement of commercial operation of the first half of the initial installation for the centrifuge units renewal work at the Rokkasho Uranium Enrichment Plant.
RE-2A, which has now a capacity of 37.5tSWU/year, has started commercial operation on March 9th. This is the first half of the initial installation of the 75tSWU/year plant to be finally constructed.
JNFL suspends enrichment operations at Rokkasho-mura for centrifuge renewal
A Japanese company with uranium enrichment technology said Tuesday it will suspend production of enriched uranium at its facilities in the village of Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, from Wednesday (Dec. 15) for the installation of updated centrifuges.
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. said it will suspend the operation of its only running centrifuge unit as a precautionary measure because centrifuges in another unit at the same plant are being renewed for the planned start of operations from September 2011.
(AP Dec. 14, 2010)
JNFL starts test of advanced centrifuge cascade
On November 12, 2007, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited started the cascade test using uranium hexafluoride at its Centrifuge Test Facility.
JNFL intends to introduce this new centrifuge machine, replacing the existing machine around 2010, and bring the capacity up to 1,500 t SWU/year, within about 10 years time.
Court rejects appeal by residents opposed to Rokkasho uranium enrichment plant
On May 9, 2006, a Japanese high court rejected an appeal by 77 residents demanding that the government revoke a decision to allow construction of a uranium enrichment plant in northern Japan, a court official said.
The Sendai High Court upheld a lower court ruling and dismissed the appeal, said court spokesman Hiroki Kadowaki, who declined to provide any details of the ruling.
(AP May 9, 2006)
Court dismisses suit against Rokkasho enrichment plant
On March 15, 2002, the Aomori District Court dismissed a suit filed almost 13 years ago by citizens seeking a revocation of government approval for a uranium enrichment plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, ruling the government's safety check was appropriate.
Presiding Judge Tsutomu Yamazaki dismissed the plaintiffs' claim that the uranium plant should not have been approved because the facility could be vulnerable to massive earthquakes, plane crashes and major nuclear accidents.
(Kyodo March 15, 2002)
JNFL resumes construction of Rokkasho-mura MOX fuel fabrication plant
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. on Tuesday (Apr. 3) restarted the construction of a plant to produce plutonium-uranium mixed oxide nuclear fuel known as MOX in Rokkasho village, Aomori Prefecture.
The plant, which Japan Nuclear Fuel originally started building in October 2010, will be the nation's first MOX plant to be operated on a commercial basis.
The company had suspended construction due to harsh winter conditions in Aomori and the northeastern region was then rocked by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
President Yoshihiko Kawai earlier indicated that the plant's completion, originally planned for March 2016, may be delayed due to the earthquake-induced suspension.
(Mainichi Apr. 4, 2012)
Construction of JNFL Rokkasho MOX fuel plant starts (Japan)
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. started Thursday (Oct. 28) in Aomori Prefecture the construction of what is set to become Japan's first commercial plant to produce plutonium-uranium mixed oxide, or MOX, fuel.
The plant, scheduled to be completed in March 2016 at a cost of around 190 billion yen [US$ 2.33 billion] in the village of Rokkasho in the northeastern Japan prefecture, is expected to serve as a key facility in establishing the infrastructure for recycling spent nuclear fuel.
It will be able to produce up to 130 tons of MOX fuel a year by changing powdered MOX, extracted from spent nuclear fuel at an adjacent reprocessing plant, into fuel pellets.
The launch comes after the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry authorized the plant's construction plan Friday (Oct. 22).
The project itself was approved by the ministry in May following a longer-than-expected process of assessing its quake-resistance strength since 2005.
(Mainichi Oct. 28, 2010)
Start of JNFL Rokkasho-mura MOX fuel fabrication plant construction delayed until October 2010
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. filed a plan with the government on Friday (May 21) that will delay by five months until October 2010 the start of constructing in Aomori Prefecture a plant designed to produce plutonium-uranium mixed oxide, or MOX fuel.
(Kyodo May 21, 2010)
JNFL Rokkasho-mura MOX fuel fabrication plant project passes government's safety scrutiny
The Atomic Energy Commission endorsed plans by Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. to build a plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel plant from May.
Given the green light, the economy, trade and industry minister will license its operation aimed for launch in 2015 in the near future, ministry officials said.
(Kyodo Apr. 20, 2010)
JNFL postpones start of construction of Rokkasho-mura MOX fuel plant
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) has announced a postponement to the start of construction of its mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant.
The company has requested that Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) revise its original application for the construction of its MOX fuel plant to allow for a further six months before the start of its construction.
Construction of the J-MOX fabrication facility at Rokkasho had originally been scheduled to begin in 2007, but has been delayed by reviews of seismic criteria. In April, JNFL said that it planned to start work last month, with an expected start-up date of June 2015 for the plant, revising the date of 2012 specified in an earlier construction application.
However, JNFL has now informed Meti that it plans to start construction of the plant in May 2010. The target date for the facility's completion remains the same.
(WNN Dec. 14, 2009)
JNFL produces first mixed oxides for MOX fuel
On Nov. 2, 2006, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) announced it has produced first uranium-plutonium mixed oxides in its Rokkasho reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture. The mixed oxides will be further processed into MOX fuel.
CNIC protests Aomori Gov's signing of agreement on construction of Rokkasho-mura MOX plant
Citizens' Nuclear Information Center protests Aomori Prefecture's decision to sign the basic cooperative site agreement for a MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant and demands that it rescind the agreement. The agreement has been signed between Aomori Prefecture, Rokkasho Village, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) and the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPCO). (CNIC Apr. 19, 2005)
Aomori government approves Rokkashomura MOX plant
On April 14, 2005, Aomori Gov. Shingo Mimura accepted Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.'s request to build a plant to process plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel in the village of Rokkasho.
Mimura said Aomori Prefecture and Rokkasho will each receive 980 million
yen [US$ 9 million] per year in central government subsidies for two years beginning fiscal 2006 in return for hosting the facility. The subsidies are in
line with electricity provision laws.
The MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant will be built within the grounds of the existing Rokkasho nuclear spent-fuel reprocessing plant at an estimated construction cost of 120 billion yen [US$ 1.1 billion]. The two plants will be connected underground for the delivery of plutonium and uranium.
(Japan Times 15 Apr 2005)
Aomori government to approve Rokkashomura MOX plant
Aomori Gov. Shingo Mimura will approve a request from Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. to construct the nation's first commercial plant to process mixed uranium and plutonium oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel in Rokkashomura in the prefecture, sources said.
The governor is expected to sign the basic agreement by the end of April 2005.
At the plant, MOX will be reprocessed to be used in plutonium-thermal nuclear power generation. MOX will be extracted from spent nuclear fuel at a reprocessing plant currently under construction in the village.
About 130 tons of MOX are expected to be produced annually at the new plant.
It will cost about 120 billion yen [US$ 1.1 billion] to construct the MOX facility, which will be built next to the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.
(Yomiuri Shimbun Apr. 7, 2005)
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. seeks licence to build MOX fuel plant at Rokkasho-mura
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (JNFL) is seeking a license to build a plutonium fuel fabrication plant at Rokkashomura, the utility-owned company said. Construction work on the plant would begin in 2004 and be completed in 2009, assuming both the Aomori Prefecture and Rokkashomura approve the project. (Platts Aug. 27, 2001)
Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited to build MOX fuel plant at Rokkasho-mura
On Nov. 10, 2000, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) announced the project to construct a MOX fuel fabrication plant adjacent to JNFL's Rokkasho-mura reprocessing plant (currently under construction). The fuel plant will have a maximum capacity of 130 tonnes of MOX fuel per year. Construction costs are estimated at 120 billion Yen (about US$ 1.1 billion).
On September 30, 1999, a criticality accident occured at the Tokai nuclear fuel plant in Japan.
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Cameco and Kazatomprom eye uranium conversion plant in Kazakhstan
Canada's Cameco Corp. and Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom aim to launch a uranium-conversion plant in the Central Asian state in 2016-2017, Cameco's Chief Operating Officer Bob Steane said Friday (June 4).
Cameco and Kazatomprom plan to have a feasibility study done for the facility "in the next couple of years," Steane said, adding "conversion only makes sense when you get 12,000 or more [metric] tons capacity," referring to the size of the proposed plant.
(Dow Jones June 4, 2010)
Kazatomprom and Rosatom consider Ulba combine as possible site for uranium enrichment plant
The national atomic company of Kazakhstan Kazatomprom and Russian state corporation Rosatom examine the Ulba combine, which is located in East Kazakhstan as a possible site for uranium enrichment, reported Kazatomprom's Vice President Nurlan Ryspanov.
(Kazakhstan today June 4, 2010)
Kazakhstan to export enriched uranium
Kazakhstan intends to be more actively engaged in export of the enriched uranium. The report of the USA National Coordination Office for Information Technology Research and Development of the US Bureau of Investigation informs, Kazakhstan Today agency reports citing information portal NEWSru.
According to NEWSru, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, informed of the plans to export uranium and to sell a more expensive fuel to the neighboring countries, not ore.
"Now, Russia helps Kazakhstan to enrich its uranium. However, Astana may soon decide to buy uranium enrichment technologies. Kazakhstan will likely to establish cooperation with Iran, which has been involved in uranium for a long time."
(Kazakhstan Today 19 Oct 2009)
Kazakhstan to sell nuclear fuel to China, Japan, and Europe by 2013
Kazatomprom will start selling nuclear fuel to China by 2013. Kazakh-made nuclear fuel will also be exported to Japan, Europe, and possibly the U.S., according to Kazatomprom head Mukhtar Dzhakishev.
(Bloomberg May 31, 2007)
Canada and Kazakhstan agree nuclear cooperation
Canada and Kazakhstan have concluded negotiations on the text of a nuclear cooperation agreement, ministers from the two countries have announced.
Jerry Grandey, CEO of Canadian uranium producer Cameco, welcomed the agreement, saying it would allow his company to expand its role and presence in Kazakhstan "and develop partnerships that will allow Cameco and Kazatomprom to work together on opportunities to convert uranium."
(WNN 25 September 2009)
Cameco and Kazatomprom establish entity for Ulba conversion plant project
Cameco Corporation and Kazatomprom are pleased to announce today that they are establishing a new legal entity, Ulba Conversion LLP, to further advance the development work of a 12,000 tonne, UF6 conversion facility at the Ulba Metallurgical plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. Ownership of Ulba Conversion will be Kazatomprom 51% and Cameco 49%.
Cameco and Kazatomprom have agreed to begin the first stage of the feasibility study to evaluate a conversion plant based on the results of a detailed scoping study. This first stage will be funded by the two companies based on their participating interest and is expected to be completed in the next year. Cameco will provide the technology for the conversion plant and potentially hold an interest of up to 49%.
(Cameco June 3, 2008)
Cameco and Kazatomprom to cooperate on uranium conversion plant project in Kazakhstan
On May 28, 2007, Cameco Corporation announced it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with National Atomic Company Kazatomprom to co-operate on the development of uranium conversion capacity.
Under the terms of the MOU, Cameco will work with Kazatomprom to study the feasibility of constructing a uranium conversion facility in Kazakhstan and elsewhere. Cameco would provide the technology and potentially hold an interest of up to 49%, at the company's discretion.
> Ulba Metallurgical Plant
> Aerial view: Google Maps
Kazatomprom and Areva set up nuclear fuel joint venture
On Nov. 4, 2011, Areva and Kazatomprom signed an agreement on the construction of a new production line at the nuclear fuel manufacturing facility in Ulba. Construction is to start in 2012, once the feasibility study has been completed.
(Usine Nouvelle Nov. 4, 2011)
On Oct. 27, 2010, Areva and Kazatomprom signed an agreement to create a fuel fabrication joint-venture.
The new company, owned 51 % by Kazatomprom and 49 % by Areva, is to build a new fuel assembly manufacturing line based on the Areva design for the Ulba facility, located in the East of Kazakhstan. The new 400-ton per year capacity unit is scheduled to start operating in 2014.
The joint-venture IFASTAR owned 51% by Areva and 49% by Kazatomprom created by the two partners last year will commercialize production.
(Areva Oct. 27, 2010)
On Oct. 6, 2009, Areva and Kazatomprom signed an agreement to create a Fuel Marketing Joint Venture named IFASTAR.
Under the terms of the agreement, the newly created Paris-based IFASTAR will be owned jointly by Areva (51%) and Kazatomprom (49%). The mission of IFASTAR is to perform a Feasibility Study consisting of two parts:
- The assessment of the Asian market in view of selling integrated fuel packages (including all front-end segments and combining Kazatomprom's uranium resources and Areva's fuel technology) to electric utilities operating in Asia,
- The assessment of the technical and economical feasibility of the construction of a dedicated fuel manufacturing line (400 tU/year) located at Kazatomprom's Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMP) site in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan).
Depending on the results of the assessment, and after decision of the partners, IFASTAR would run the sales of the products from this line while the fuel manufacturing itself would be performed by another joint venture, owned jointly by Kazatomprom (51%) and Areva (49%).
(Areva/Kazatomprom Oct. 6, 2009)
Japanese utiliy to outsource uranium reconversion to Kazakhstan
Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co. will outsource uranium reconversion, a process to convert enriched uranium hexafluoride into uranium oxide, to Kazakh state-run nuclear energy firm Kazatomprom.
The outsourcing will be made through Tokyo-based Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd. , informed sources said.
A memorandum of understanding for the deal will be signed later in the day, the sources said.
Kazatomprom is expected to launch uranium reconversion for Kansai Electric at a plant in Kazakhstan in 2010, the sources said.
(Japan Corporate News Network Dec. 26, 2007)
Ulba Metallurgical Plant starts downblending of weapons-grade uranium
On October 8th, 2005, a U.S.-based nonproliferation group and Kazakh officials unveiled a project to eliminate about three tons of weapons-grade nuclear fuel which could be used to make some two dozen atomic bombs.
Under the project, about 6,400 pounds (2,900 kg) of nuclear fuel containing highly enriched uranium from a mothballed Soviet-built nuclear reactor in western Kazakhstan will be blended down at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Eastern Kazakhstan so that it cannot be used to make bombs. The uranium, less than 5 percent enriched, will be used for fuel for civilian reactors.
The $2 million project was initiated by the Nuclear Threat Initiative , a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the threat of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The U.S. group and the Kazakh nuclear industry shared the costs.
(AP Oct. 8, 2005)
U.S. DOE, GNF, and RWE Nukem to assist Ulba plant in Oskemen in uranium extraction
"Under the project, a former nuclear weapons plant in Kazahkstan will develop its capability to separate low-enriched uranium from uranium concentrates with assistance from two private U.S. companies and Brookhaven National Laboratory. The uranium will then be made available as a power source to civilian power reactors throughout the world."
> DOE release Jan. 30, 2002
North Korea 'Has New Uranium Enrichment Facility':
North Korea built a new underground uranium enrichment facility in Tongchang, North Pyongan Province in 2006, separately from the existing one at Yongbyon in the same province, Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sun-young claimed Wednesday (Oct. 19).
Park said she had the information from a North Korean Army lieutenant colonel she only identified as Lee (52), who she claimed supervised security when the regime built the new facility.
"Construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2006," Park said. "After a test run in 2007, it began extracting enriched uranium in 2009."
"The Yongbyon facility is an empty structure that was built in preparation for an international inspection, but the new facility in Tongchang is the real uranium enrichment facility," she said.
(The Chosun Ilbo Oct. 20, 2011)
> Aerial view: Google Maps
North Korea has secretly and quickly built a new facility to enrich uranium, according to an American nuclear scientist, raising fears that the North is ramping up its nuclear program despite international pressure.
The scientist, Siegfried Hecker, said in a report posted Saturday (Nov. 20) that he was taken during a recent trip to the North's main Yongbyon atomic complex to a facility with a small industrial-scale uranium enrichment facility. The facility had 2,000 recently completed centrifuges, he said, and the North told him it was producing low-enriched uranium meant for a new reactor.
The facilities appeared to be primarily for civilian nuclear power, not for North Korea's nuclear arsenal, said Hecker, former director of the U.S. Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory and a regular visitor to the North. He said he saw no evidence of plutonium production. But, he said, the facilities "could be readily converted to produce highly enriched uranium bomb fuel."
Uranium enrichment would give the North a second way to make atomic bombs, in addition to its known plutonium-based program.
(AP Nov. 21, 2010)
> Download report: A Return Trip to North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Complex , by Siegfried S. Hecker, Nov. 20, 2010 (122k PDF - Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University)
Pakistan's uranium enrichment facility will be under IAEA safeguards
The uranium conversion and enrichment facility planned by Pakistan will be under IAEA safeguards, Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Anwar Ali told the the 51st General Conference of International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. He said Pakistan has chalked out a plan to expand power generation to meet the demand of its growing economy and the share of nuclear power in the energy mix to 8800 MW by the year 2030.
(PPI Sep. 18, 2007)
Pakistan plans to build nuclear fuel facilities to achieve self-reliance for nuclear fuel fabrication
Pakistan has decided to build a $1.192 billion (Rs72.2 billion) facility to develop the capacity to manufacture the full cycle of nuclear fuel and nuclear power plants.
Dawn has learnt that the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) will set up a Pakistan Nuclear Power Fuel Complex (PNPFC) to attain the capability to manufacture pressurised water reactors (PWRs) and nuclear power plants (NPPs).
Knowledgeable sources said Pakistan took the decision because of denial of technology from the suppliers to all except the favoured countries.
They said the complex would comprise a Chemical Processing Plant, Fuel Fabrication Plant, Nuclear Power Fuel Testing Project and Seamless Tube Plant-1.
Being an indigenous facility, the complex will assure regular supply of nuclear fuel to PWRs. It will cost over Rs36.1 billion to the national exchequer.
The Chemical Processing Plant, which will cost Rs28 billion, is meant to produce nuclear fuel and structural materials and natural UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) gas from the commercially available yellow cake (U3O8) and convert depleted UF6 gas into depleted uranium metal.
The plant will act as a roadmap for ultimately achieving the capability of fulfilling one-thirds of the total fuel requirement needed for the NPPs, planned to be constructed by 2030. Initially, the PAEC is expected to construct six to eight NPPs indigenously.
The Fuel Fabrication Plant is proposed to be built at a cost of Rs3.7 billion and its prime objective is to develop capability for indigenous fabrication of fuel assembly for fulfilling the major share of fuel requirements for existing and future NPPs.
The PAEC has informed higher authorities that an indigenous Fuel Fabrication Plant is required to ensure reliable and uninterrupted fuel supply "which may otherwise be affected any time because of international politics and pressure".
At present, the government is importing nuclear fuel from China for the 300MW Chashma Nuclear Power Plant-2. The fabrication cost is about $486 million and the proposed Fuel Fabrication Plant will enable the country to achieve self-reliance for PWR fuel fabrication technology for the assured supply of nuclear power to existing and future NPPs.
(Dawn Aug. 8, 2007)
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As part of Turkey's plans to develop its nuclear potential the Turkish Energy Ministry is moving toward plans to position the country as a regional center for uranium enrichment, sources revealed on Jan. 14, 2008.
The issue will be discussed at a nuclear energy meeting that will be held in Istanbul on Jan. 18, 2008. In addition to Tomihiro Taniguchi, the No. 2 at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), top-level officials from America, Russia, France and the United Kingdom will reportedly be attending the meeting.
(Turkish Daily News Jan. 15, 2008)
