In Udmurtia, at the Chepetsk Mechanical Plant (CHMP), part of the structure of the fuel company TVEL of the ROSATOM State Corporation, mastered the technology of production of zirconium sponge.
"The solemn ceremony of launching a new industrial production took place on October 5," the company's press service reported.
It is clarified that until now, ChMZ— the only zirconium production plant in Russia, has produced only electrolytic zirconium powder using fluoride technology as a material for its products. At the same time, in world practice, structural materials for the production of nuclear fuel are made from zirconium sponge.
"Compared with fluoride technology, the new sponge production contains two times fewer technological operations, the consumption of raw materials, materials, energy resources is reduced, the volume of waste is significantly reduced, while high purity of zirconium in terms of hafnium content is ensured," the press service explained.
Natalia Nikipelova, President of TVEL, called the development of zirconium sponge production a landmark milestone for the development of zirconium production in the fuel division of ROSATOM.
"Zirconium sponge can be widely used in the production of fuel for all major power reactors, both Russian and foreign design," she noted.
The company stressed that the full technological cycle and all the equipment for the production of zirconium sponge were developed and manufactured by Russian organizations.
At the end of September, Rospatent summed up the results of the first two decades of the XXI century and selected the ten best inventions of Russia. Two patents of ROSATOM enterprises were included in the top 10: "method of coherent addition of laser radiation in multichannel continuous lasers" and "low-activated heat-resistant radiation-resistant steel".
