Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corpor-ation (Rosatom) has decided to focus on the development of fast neutron reactors (FNRs) to provide the Generation IV component of its future nuclear energy policy. FNRs are designed to burn uranium 238 (U-238) while conventional reactors, such as pressurised water reactors (PWRs), use uranium 235 (U-235) as their fuel.

However, U-235 makes up only 0,7% of natural uranium, whereas U-238 accounts for the remaining 99,3%. Thus, most nuclear power today makes use of less than 1% of the energy available in uranium.

FNRs also burn actinides (which include uranium and plutonium) as fuel – these are the long-lasting high-level radioactive by-products of nuclear fission in other reactor designs.
(If they are not used as fuel for FNRs or reprocessed, actinides become the most difficult category of nuclear waste.)

FNRs can be designed to produce more plutonium than they consume. Such FNRs are called fast breeder reactors (FBRs), which ‘breed’ fuel for other FNRs.

FNRs thus maximise the use of uranium ore and, in their FBR form, allow the creation of a closed nuclear fuel cycle. An open nuclear fuel cycle requires a constant input of fresh uranium, but a closed fuel cycle greatly reduces this need, with FBRs producing fuel for other reactors, whose waste products, in turn, help fuel the FBRs and other FNRs.

FNRs/FBRs are not new concepts and the world has some 400 reactor years experience in operating such units, but earlier versions suffered from some technical problems and were uneconomic in an era of very low uranium prices. But technology has advanced, and uranium prices have risen again.

Rosatom points out that no less than 86,7% of the energy potential of Russia’s natural resources is contained in U-238, while coal contains 8,7%, gas 3,4%, oil 0,8% and U-235 a mere 0,4%. The Russian group also has some 30 years of experience in operating the sodium-cooled BN-600 FNR, which was preceded by the BN-350, BR-5/10 and BN-1/2 FNRs (the last operating during the 1950s). The BN-600 has a capacity of 600 MWe and provides power to the grid and is expected to operate until 2020. Rosatom is now busy with its next FNR, the 880 MWe capacity BN-800, which is expected to enter operation in 2014. However, over the next decade at least, Rosatom will continue to build PWRs (known as VVERs in Russia).

Nuclear power contributed 16% of Russia’s, and 29% of European Russia’s, energy output in 2008. In terms of installed capacity, the national share of nuclear power was 11%. Total installed capacity was 23,2 GW, spread around ten nuclear power plants (NPPs) equipped with 31 reactors.

Russia plans to increase the share of nuclear produced energy to about 23% of total energy production for the whole country, and to about 32% for European Russia, by 2020.
The plan is to achieve this by commissioning 2 GW of capacity a year after 2013 through the construction of standardised nuclear reactors. With funding that is guaranteed, Russia should have 32,3 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2020 – with additional funding, this would rise to 38,1 GW – while 3,7 GW of nuclear capacity would be decommissioned.

Rosatom is also one of the international companies interested in South Africa’s proposed new NPP programme. Like its competitors, it is offering this country a Generation III PWR design, namely the latest generation of its VVER-1000 reactor in the AES-91/99 NPP design. (The Russians have separate designations for reactors and for the NPPs). In 2003, the AES-91/99 design (including the reactor) was certified as complying with European Union standards by Finnish experts.

South Africa has well-established relations with Rosatom. Techsnabexport (under the brand name Tenex), a subsidiary of Rosatom, has supplied South Africa with low-enriched uranium to manufacture fuel for Eskom’s only NPP, at Koeberg, near Cape Town. In more general terms, South Africa has cooperated with Russia in the nuclear sector for some years now and the two countries have a Joint Coordination Committee on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu

In more general terms, South Africa has cooperated with Russia in the
nuclear sector for some years now and the two countries have a Joint
Coordination Committee on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear
energy.

GarryB wrote:
The Aussies refused to sell Uranium to the Russians on ethical grounds...

While exports to Russia will go ahead, Australia doesn’t allow uranium
to be sent to India for energy use because the South Asian country
hasn’t signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"We've come to the conclusion that we can safely export uranium to
Russia and it won't be diverted for military purposes," Smith said.

GarryB wrote:Their supposed reason for not selling to Russia was that they thought the Russians would use it to make nuclear weapons.

The reason everyone is interested in Aussie U is because it is plentiful and cheap so you can order big.

Apparently the Howard government changed its mind and was going to sell to India but the Gillard government decided to block it when it got into power.

I wonder what the Australian reaction would be to all the oil states deciding not to sell oil to Australia because of its poor human rights record.
It wasn't till the 1967 Aussie census that they stopped counting Aborigines as flora and fauna..

I think they have enough Plotonium to make nuclear weapons at one time they had 30 thousand nuclear weapons.

And
any uranium transaction that happen between NPT and non-NPT countries
are under IAEA safeguard , so there is no way Russia or any other
country can divert those to weapons use.

Indeed but hopefully its not a bottle neck to India , India has largest
reserves for thorium (suffiecient to provide energy for next 200 years )
and its 3 stage Nuclear program is suppose to use thorium in 3rd stage.