Russia to supply nuclear fuel to ETRR-2 research reactor in Egypt

PAO Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant and the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) have signed a ten-year contract on supplying uranium and aluminum components of reduced-enrichment fuel for the research reactor ETRR-2, the press service of TVEL Fuel Company of the Russian nuclear industry corporation Rosatom told BelTA.

The Argentinian-design research reactor ETRR-2 is located in the Egyptian national center for nuclear research in the city of Inshas. It is used for studies in the area of elementary-particle physics, materials science and for producing radioisotopes.

The long-term contract is a logical continuation of the series of contracts successfully executed in the last three years to deliver fuel components made by Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant to Egypt. It is a testimony of the high level of trust in relations between TVEL Fuel Company and Egyptian partners. “Our plants have more than 40 years of experience of fabricating fuel for nuclear reactors and can make fuel components for all the staple reactors of Russian and foreign designs,” said Oleg Grigoryev, TVEL Fuel Company Senior Vice President for Commerce and International Business.

Prospects of TVEL Fuel Company business development in Egypt also depend on supplies of nuclear fuel for the future nuclear power plant El Dabaa, which will feature four VVER-1200 reactors (the relevant contract came into force in 2017). Apart from that, TVEL Fuel Company’s Central Design and Technology Institute is a design subcontractor for the project to build a dry cask storage facility to store spent nuclear fuel of the nuclear power plant El Dabaa.