Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom has sent a "more advanced" fuel option for a nuclear power plant in southern India, Union minister of state for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh told parliament on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister said that the first lot of TVS-2M fuel assemblies were received in May-June 2022 from Russian Federation and loaded in Unit-1.

He told the parliament that “they are performing satisfactorily."

The union minister added that the use of TVS-2M fuel assemblies in KKNPP reactors will allow 18-month operating cycles as against the 12-month operating cycle with UTVS fuel assemblies presently in use in Unit-2.

He said that Russia has offered a more advanced fuel viz. TVS-2M type in place of UTVS type fuel for use in reactors at Unit 1 and 2 at Kudankulam.

“After detailed deliberations by experts, considering the better operational performance with TVS-2M type fuel assemblies, it was decided to use TVS-2M fuel in place of UTVS fuel assemblies in Kudankulam Units 1 and 2," the minister added.

Rosatom’s nuclear fuel division, TVEL Fuel Company, is the current supplier of TVS-2 M fuel for the two VVER 1,000 MWe reactors generating power in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).

This fuel has an 18-month fuel cycle, meaning that the reactor has to be stopped for fresh fuel loading every one-and-a-half year. TVEL has now offered the more modern Advanced Technology Fuel (ATF), whose fuel cycle is a whopping 24 months.

The change in fuel will ensure more efficiency, additional power generation due to the prolonged operation of the reactor and sizable savings of the foreign exchange needed to buy fresh fuel assemblies from Russia.

Image source: Reuters