OREANDA-NEWS. September 20, 2010. The Interagency Competition Committee on selection of technology for establishment an enterprise producing nuclear fuel for VVER-1000 reactors in Ukraine determined TVEL OJSC (RF) the winner of the competitive tender.

This information was provided by Assistant Director of Westinghouse Electric Company (USA) representative office in Ukraine Svetlana Merkulova, the Interfax-Ukraine reports.

“We’ve received a notice in which they thanked us for participation in the tender and informed that the Interagency Committee decided in favour of TVEL,” she said. Earlier Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy Natalya Shumkova had expressed hope that the Cabinet to which recommendations of the Interagency Competition Committee would be submitted for approval would have approved the winner of the competitive tender by October, 2010.

On June 18, 2010 Interagency Competition Committee on selection of technology for establishment an enterprise producing nuclear fuel for VVER-1000 reactors in Ukraine approved the tender procedure, the bidders’ proposals estimation procedure and texts of invitations to tender for TVEL and Westinghouse Electric Company. Under the terms of the tender Ukraine intends to get the controlling block of shares of the future enterprise and insists on transfer of the nuclear fuel production technology up to 2020.

Commissioning of the new enterprise is planned for 2013. By this time the plant should be able to produce fuel rods and assemblies equivalent to 200 tons of uranium per year as well as have facilities for production of zirconia and stainless components equivalent to 400 tons of uranium per year. Besides, the plant is expected to have available facilities for fuel pellets production equivalent to 400 tons of uranium per year in 2017, and in 2020  — for production of fuel rods and assemblies equivalent to 400 tons of uranium yearly.

Another essential condition of the tender is the requirement to transfer the fuel assembly production technology under a nonexclusive license which grants the rights to produce assemblies for Ukrainian NPPs and third countries power plants pursuant to respective agreement with the technology owner.

For the period of the plant construction Ukraine expects the bidders to supply products and components the production of which has not been developed in the country yet.

At present TVEL is the monopoly nuclear fuel supplier for the Ukrainian NPPs.