TVEL plans to grow and diversify

Thursday, 26 January 2012

A new corporate strategy for Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL aims to more than double nuclear revenue by 2030, while adding a new energy storage business.

Social acceptance is key to TVEL's business strategy. This picture was part of a competition held in Novosibirsk to mark TVEL's 15th anniversary

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has approved the subsidiary's plans, which were announced today.

TVEL wants its annual revenues to grow from $6 billion last year to $16 billion in 2030. It also wants a bigger share of the overall uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel markets: 30-32% compared with 25% currently.

The company said it wanted to do this "despite the political constraints in relation to Russia products in some countries and increased competition in the global market." On the other hand, TVEL benefits from a dominant position in the manufacturing of fuel for Russian-supplied VVER pressurized water reactors worldwide.

Methods to achieve the company's goals rely on "leadership on the cost of uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel technology development" and providing "innovative marketing proposals." Further globalisation of TVEL operations could include a "global network of research centres, a transport and logistics system, and the modernization and centralization of production."

At the same time, TVEL said it would expand into more non-nuclear business areas. "One of the priorities is to enter the market of energy storage," it said, adding that it wanted $3 billion in annual revenue to come from non-nuclear work by 2030.

All this, however, is only possible with social acceptance of TVEL's business. "Together with regional authorities, [TVEL] will develop comprehensive programs for development of business environments" and work to attract other major investors. This is especially important in some of Russia's single-industry towns.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News