April
Approval of the Roadmap for Developing the High-Tech Area Technology of New Materials and Substances Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yury Borisov approved the Roadmap for Developing the High Tech Area Technology of New Materials and Substances developed in collaboration with JSC TENEX. This document includes the Division’s projects in the lithium area of the business and opens new horizons for their development.
July
Completion of SNF unloading from the Lepse floating maintenance base The final stage of unloading most of the spent nuclear fuel (hereinafter, SNF) from the Lepse floating maintenance base (FMB) was carried out. The last of the six batches of spent fuel assemblies was reloaded into TUK-18 transport packaging containers and delivered to the special storage site of FSUE Atomflot by the Serebryanka motor ship. The project is being implemented in the framework of an international cooperation: since 2008, funding has been provided on the basis of a grant agreement entered into between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ROSATOM and JSC NFC Logistics (customer and coordinator of the project).
September
Carrying out a new conceptual study on Fukushima Daiichi NPP
Tenex-Japan Co., a subsidiary of JSC TENEX, entered into a direct contract with TEPCO Holdings Inc. to carry out research in the field of handling radioactive zeolites. As part of the elimination of the consequences of the accident at Fukushima-Daiichi NPP, bags containing zeolites were placed in the basements of the radwaste facility buildings for sorption purification of contaminated water from radionuclides. Experts of Tenex-Japan Co, JSC NIKIET and JSC Institute of Reactor Materials will develop several scenarios for extracting and handling radioactive zeolites and will conduct an initial safety assessment for their long-term intermediate storage.
October
Signing of a new amendment to the Agreement Suspending Antidumping Investigation The US Department of Commerce and ROSATOM signed a new amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium from Russia, which was signed in 1992 and regulates the supply of Russian uranium products to the United States. The amendment of 2020 was initiated by the American side and extends the validity of the Agreement until 2040. The negotiations between ROSATOM and the US Department of Commerce resulted in the resolution of a key problem: predictable rules for the access of Russian uranium products to the US market in the strategic perspective were established. The agreements reached enable the Russian supplier to fully discharge its existing contractual obligations, some of which envisage supplies until the end of the next decade, and to compete for new long-term orders.
November
Expansion of presence on biofuel markets JSC Uranium One Group effected the first commercial supply of a batch of wooden pellets to a customer in Italy. Earlier, in January 2020, the first commercial supply of a batch of wooden pellets to a customer in Denmark was effected.
December
Laureateship in the Exporter of the Year, a National Award in the Field of International Cooperation and Exports JSC TENEX won third place in the Trader of the Year category. The award ceremony took place at the venue of the annual International Export Forum Made In Russia. In 2020, the National contest was attended by 85 companies that had won in regional stages. Winners and laureates were announced by the Federal Contest Commission chaired by A.R. Belousov, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government. The selection was based on three key indicators: the assessment of export activity, the assessment of international promotion and the level of export activity.
Transit of nuclear materials through the Russian territory
As part of the effort to achieve the strategic goal to enter the top 3 international shippers in the NFC, JSC NFC Logistics successfully effected shipments using a transit corridor through Russian territory for foreign customers whose scope was of out of the industry:
-Transit of uranium concentrate to France via the port of Taganrog;
-Transit of enriched uranium from France to the Republic of Korea.