First VVER-1200 fuel delivered to China for Tianwan 7

The fuel was manufactured at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant and is part of the contract for units 7 and 8 at the plant in China's Jiangsu province which are both Russian-designed VVER-1200s.

It is the first fuel delivered to China for VVER-1200s. Rosatom had previously supplied VVER-1000 fuel for the four operating Russian-designed units at the Tianwan plant. It said there has been localisation of the production of VVER-1000 fuel assemblies at the Yibin Fuel Plant in Sichuan province using Russian components. It added that the same plant "is currently completing the localisation of VVER-1200 fuel production".

Oleg Grigoryev, Senior Vice President for Commerce and International Business at Rosatom's fuel division TVEL, said: "The first delivery of nuclear fuel for the VVER-1200 reactor marks a new chapter in the history of our cooperation with our Chinese partners. In 2026, we plan to deliver three more front-end cores for the Tianwan and Xudapu NPPs, which represents a record volume of nuclear fuel shipped in a single year. Overall, our partnership with CNNC companies is developing very dynamically, encompassing several areas - including localised production, fuel supply for fast neutron reactors, and other areas. At the same time, the potential for our cooperation in the nuclear fuel cycle is far from exhausted. We see broad prospects for its development and, for our part, are ready to offer new products and solutions to the Chinese market."

In June 2018, Russia and China signed agreements for the construction of two VVER-1200 reactors as units 7 and 8 of the Tianwan plant. Construction of unit 7 began in May 2021, with that of unit 8 starting in February 2022. The units are scheduled to be put into commercial operation in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

The Tianwan nuclear power plant is owned and operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Company, a joint venture between China National Nuclear Corporation (50%), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%).

The first four units at the Tianwan site - which began commercial operation between June 2007 and December 2018 - are Gidropress VVER units supplied by Russia, as will be the seventh and eighth. Units 5 and 6 both feature Chinese ACPR1000 reactors.

Earlier this month China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced that tests simulating the temperatures and pressures the reactor systems will be subjected to during normal operation had been completed at unit 7. It said the completion of hot tests on 30 December "lays a solid foundation for subsequent work such as nuclear fuel loading and grid connection", with commercial operation scheduled for 2026.