Romanian Nuclear Fuel Program: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

The paper presents and comments the policy adopted in Romania for the production of CANDU-6 nuclear fuel before and after 1990. In this paper the word "past" refers to the period before 1990 and "present" to the 1990- 1997 period. The CANDU-6 nuclear fuel manufacturing started in Romania in December 1983. Neither AECL nor any Canadian nuclear fuel manufacturer were involved in the Romanian industrial nuclear kel production before 1990. After January 1990, the new created Romanian Electricity Authority (RENEL) assumed the responsibility for the Romanian Nuclear Power Program. It was RENEL's decision to stop, in June 1990, the nuclear fuel production at the Institute for Nuclear Power Reactors (IRNE) Pitesti. This decision was justified by the Canadian specialists team findings, revealed during a general, but well enough technically founded analysis performed at IRNE in the spring of 1990. All fuel manufactured before June 1990 was quarantined as it was considered of suspect quality. By that time more than 31,000 fuel bundles had already been manufactured. This fuel was stored for subsequent assessment. The paper explains the reasons which provoked this decision. The paper also presents the strategy adopted by RENEL after 1990 regarding the Romanian Nuclear Fuel Program. After a complex program done by Romanian and Canadian partners, in November 1994, AECL issued a temporary certification for the Romanian nuclear fuel plant. During the demonstration manufacturing run, as an essential milestone for the qualification of the Romanian fuel supplier for CANDU-6 reactors, 202 fuel bundles were produced. Of these fuel bundles, 66 were part of the Cernavoda NGS Unit 1 first fuel load (the balance was supplied by Zircatec Precision Industries Inc. - ZPI). The industrial nuclear fuel fabrication re-started in Romania in January 1995 under AECL's periodical monitoring. In December 1995, AECL issued a permanent certificate, stating the Romanian nuclear fuel plant as a qualified and authorized CANDU-6 fuel supplier. The re-loading of the Cernavoda NGS Unit 1 started in the middle of January 1997 with fuel produced by the Romanian fuel plant. The quality evaluation of the "pre-1990" fuel started in April 1996 and was performed by the Nuclear Fuel Plant (FCN) Pitesti, under the supervision of the Nuclear Power Group (GEN) - a distinct department of RENEL. The future prospect and trend of the Romanian Nuclear Fuel Program are also presented in this paper.