Semyon Dragulsky, director general of Russian Energy Efficiency Union

– Comment on TVEL’s victory in tender for supply of fuel to Slovak NPP

TVEL Corporation has won a tender to supply fuel to the Slovak nuclear power plants for a period till 2015, reports a source from the Slovak nuclear operator.

As a result, TVEL has made a contract for fuel deliveries to the five existing WWER-440 nuclear reactors of Mohovce and Bohunice NPPs and two new reactors of Mohovce NPP as soon as the latter are commissioned.

The Americans have lost the tender on the safest and the most stable fuel assembly to the Russian designers. To remind, at first TVEL beat the Americans in the Czech Republic and Finland in 2006 and now in Slovakia. Now after one more defeat the best thing for Westinghouse to do is to stop producing fuel for Russian WWER-440 as there are no more markets for this type of fuel. The Americans will hardly come back to this market as even one year of no research and development work in the field of nuclear fuel production results in a lag of 5–6 years. Due to political pressure, in Mar 2008 Westinghouse signed a contract with Ukrainian Energoatom for the supply of fuel to three Ukrainian WWER-1000 reactors. It was a no-tender deal. Had there been a tender, the Americans would have lost it and would have been forced to stop producing fuel for WWER-1000.