Russia: Fissile Material: Uranium Fuel Processing: Elektrostal Machine
Building Plant (MSZ)Russia: Machine Building Plant (MSZ) Машиностроительныйзавод
LOCATION: Elektrostal (or Electrostal),
Moscow Oblast.
Address: 12 K. Marx St., Elektrostal, 144001
Telephone: (7-095) 702-99-01
Fax: (7-095) 702-92-21
E-mail: elmsz@dol.ru
[Russian Defense Business Directory
(Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Export Administration,
1995), p. 70.] {Updated 2/2/00 LWB} SUBORDINATION: Federal Atomic Energy Agency MSZ
is an open joint stock company that became part of the TVEL
joint stock company, as part of a June 1996 government decision aimed at
vertical management of the fuel cycle.
["Rossiya Sozdayet Vertikalnuyu Sistemu
Upravleniya Proizvodstvom Yadernogo Topliva," Interfax, 1 July 1996.] ACTIVITIES: MSZ (also known as Elemash) is the largest producer of nuclear fuel assemblies
in Russia.[1] MSZ was established in 1917 to produce aerial bombs
and was converted to missile production in 1941. With the advent of the
Russian nuclear power program, MSZ began producing fuel assemblies for
the Obninsk nuclear power plant (NPP) in 1953, and for the Soviet Navy
in 1959. In 1965, the plant began mass producing fuel assemblies, which
it now manufactures for VVER-440, VVER-1000, AST-500, RBMK-1500,
BN-600, EGP-6, and naval propulsion reactors. MSZ now supplies 70 percent of the
Russian fuel rod market; it is the exclusive Russian supplier of fuel assemblies
for non-VVER reactors.[1] MSZ also supplies fuel assemblies for nuclear power reactors to Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany,
Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Ukraine. In
2001, plans to supply fuel for nuclear power plants being constructed in India and China were announced.[11] MSZ also produces research reactor fuel assemblies, for which it uses
thin-walled stainless steel tubes, which it manufactures, as cladding.[2,9] MSZ is involved in almost all
stages of nuclear fuel production: from converting uranium hexafluoride into UO2 powder to producing uranium pellets, fuel rods, and fuel
assemblies.[10]
MSZ produced 2,000 fuel assemblies in 1995, although
it has the capacity to produce 4,500 per year. As of 1997, the plant was
producing RBMK fuel assemblies at 100 percent of its 570MT per year production
capacity, but produced only 230MT of VVER-440 fuel assemblies (capacity
is 700MT per year).[3] In 1997, its fast breeder reactor (FBR) fuel assembly
fabrication capacity was 20MT per year, and its FBR blanket fabrication
capacity was 15MT per year.[4] As of 1995, MSZ was fabricating fuel assemblies
from unfinished enriched uranium supplied by the
Ulba
Metallurgy Plant in Kazakhstan.[3]
In the last several years, MSZ has been actively
pursuing cooperative projects with foreign companies. For example, in 1995,
the plant produced experimental fuel rods for the Siemens company to be
used in German and Swiss reactors.[5] Subsequently, the plant has produced
36 Siemens-designed fuel assemblies for pressurized water reactors (PWR):
four in 1996 and 28 in 1997 for the Obrigheim PWR in Germany, and four
for the Gösgen PWR in Switzerland in 1998.[6]
In 1999, another 28 fuel assemblies were produced for Obrigheim.[9]
MSZ plans to increase production
of Siemens-designed assemblies for both PWRs and boiling water reactors (BWR). MSZ also uses reprocessed uranium fuel in assemblies designed by
Siemens, for which Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH (ANF) supplies the skeletons
and cladding tubes. Between 1994 and 1997 MSZ and ANF negotiated a contract
for a dry conversion plant at ANF's production plant in Lingen, Germany.
Along with the plant, MSZ will provide a powder granulation facility, spare
parts, training, construction supervision, and initial start-up.[6] MSZ
constructed a modular line for fuel assembly production in 1999. This line is used
to manufacture fuel assemblies for Western and VVER-1000 reactors. The plant
also produces uranium-gadolinium fuel pellets and is nearing the completion of a
line to manufacture fuel assemblies with gadolinium.[9]
MSZ also produces high-purity metallic calcium in
a variety of forms, used in manufacturing high-quality steel and non-ferrous
alloys. Another MSZ product is anisotropic ceramic-barium magnets of different
shapes, and high-power Nd-Fe-B magnets, using equipment supplied by the
Riedhammer, Korst, and Linear Abrasiv companies. MSZ now produces cobalt-based
hard alloys for milling and mining machinery, as an outgrowth of its needs
in processing uranium dioxide into fuel elements. The company produces
a variety of electric heating elements, using equipment from the Kanhtal
and CSM companies. Under the brand name Elemash, MSZ produces air conditioners
using equipment from the Korean firm Samsung, as well as other appliances
such as vacuum cleaners and coffee makers.[1]
The Russian government owns 49 percent of Elemash's
stock, with the remainder belonging to employees and a few local institutional
investors.[1] In 1997, the plant employed 12,600 workers, and earned an
after-tax profit of 394 billion rubles ($65.7 million as of 31 December
1997) from a sales volume of 2.28 trillion rubles ($380 million as of 31
December 1997).[7] The German company TÜV has certified the quality
of MSZ's fuel rods, and the facility's quality management practices to
ISO-9002 standards.[1,8]
Sources: [1] "Elemash," Prospect Investment
Web Site, http://www.prospect.com.ru/Archives/Research/Elemas_e.html. [2] Elemash Web Site, http://elemash.ex.ru. [3] Yelena Rubleva, "V Kazakhstane
rossiyskaya FPG poluchila v upravleniye zavod po porizvodstvu yadernogo
topliva," Finansovyye Izvestiya, 29 August 1995, No. 60, p. 2. [4] "World Nuclear Industry Handbook
1997," Nuclear Engineering International, p. 121. [5] Veronika Romanenkova, "Creators
of Fuel For Nuclear Power Plants Are Fighting For Quality And A Place On
The International Market,"
Segodnya, 13 July 1995, p. 9. [6] A. Panushkin, N. Balagurov, and
E. Bek, "Mashinostroitelny zavod--competing on equal terms," Nuclear
Engineering International, September 1998, p. 31. [7] "Reyting krupneyshikh kompaniy
Rossii po obyomu realizatsii produktsii (spisok 1)," Ekspert online
edition, http://lat.www.expert.ru/expert/exp200/exp20098/
tabs/spis_12.htm. [8] International Organization of Standards
Web Site, http://www.iso.ch. {Updated 2/2/00 LWB} [9] Zemfira Kharkovshchenko,
"O planakh ispolzovaniya rossiyskogo yadernogo topliva na AES stran zapada,"
Byulleten Tsentra Obshchestvennoy Informatsii, No. 2, 2001, pp. 18-19. [10] V. Kurskov, "Sovremennoye toplivo dlya AES,"
Atompressa, No. 21,
June 2000. {Updated 10/24/2001 ES} [11] Eduard
Puzyrev, "OAO Mashinostroitelnyy zavod v gorode Elektrostal rasshiryayet
proizvodstvo ernogo [sic] topliva dlya atomnoy elektrostantsii,"
RIA, 14 May 2001; in Minatom News Digest, http://www.minatom.ru,
15 May 2001. {Updated 10/31/01 EC} FISSILE MATERIAL: More than 1,000kg of HEU is located on site.
[US Department of Energy, "MPC&A Program Strategic
Plan," 1998, p.16.] {Entered 12/17/2001 ES} MPC&A: This site has participated in the
US
Department of Energy MPCA program since 1994. MSZ was chosen as the
test facility for US MPC&A assistance. Initially, the LEU
fuel-fabrication line was selected for upgrades as a pilot project. Physical protection upgrades included access control, portal technology,
seals and tags, and alarms and surveillance systems. In addition, a number of
MC&A projects were introduced on the LEU line, including the installation of
hardware and software for computerized material accounting. The DOE MPC&A plan
also projected upgrades to the fast-breeder fuel-fabrication line, which
uses HEU enriched up to 26%. However, DOE was denied access to the HEU
fuel-fabrication line, which also produces nuclear fuel for submarine
reactors,[1] so DOE ended all MPC&A work at Elektrostal in September 1999.[2] Sources: [1] US Department of Energy, Office of
Arms Control and Nonproliferation,
Partnership for Nuclear Material
Security (Washington, D.C., 1997), p. 18. [2] "Elektrostal Machine Building Plant (MSZ)," Nuclear Status Report: Nuclear Weapons, Fissile Material, and Export
Controls in the Former Soviet Union (Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and the Monterey Institute of International Studies, June
2001) p. 89. {Entered 12/17/2001 ES}
CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES:Seven NAME:Stend-1
POWER: 2kWt
COMMENTS: This critical assembly reached
criticality in 1966 and was shut down in 1998.
["IAEA Research Reactors Database," IAEA Web Site, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb/.]{updated 4/1/01 DK}
NAME: Stend-2
POWER: 2kWt
STATUS: Operational
["IAEA Research Reactors Database,"
IAEA Web Site, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb/.]{updated 4/1/01 DK}
NAME:Stend-7
POWER: 700Wt
STATUS: Shut down in 1994
["IAEA Research Reactors Database,"
IAEA Web Site, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb/.]{updated 4/1/01
DK}
3/28/2003: NEW FUEL PELLET PRODUCTION
EQUIPMENT INSTALLED AT MSZ
On 28 March 2003 Nuclear.ru reported that TVEL press service had stated that a new dry conversion line
had gone into
operation at the Machine Building Plant (MSZ) in Elektrostal. The automated line,
installed under the supervision of
Siemens AG, will
produce nuclear fuel pellets by converting enriched uranium hexafluoride into
ceramic uranium dioxide powder. According to TVEL president Aleksandr Nyago,
the line will increase MSZ's production capacity by 400 tons per year and improve
the quality of nuclear fuel pellets.
["'TVEL' prinyal v promyshlennuyu
ekspluatatsiyu novuyu ustanovku po proizvodstvu tabletok yadernogo topliva,"
Nuclear.ru Web Site, http://www.nuclear.ru/, 28 March 2003.] {Entered 4/10/2003 DA}
8/19/2002: DOWN-BLENDED HEU FUEL BUSINESS MAY DOUBLE FOR MSZ, FRAMATOME Framatome ANP and Elektrostal
MSZ
have been working together to produce and sell Russian-made power reactor fuel
using blended-down highly enriched uranium (HEU)
and reprocessed uranium (REPU)
feedstock. The project was begun by Siemens AG and Elektrostal in the
early 1990s. Framatome and Siemens merged their nuclear activities in
January 2001. Cheaper than conventional fuel and
exhibiting good performance in reactors, Framatome and Elektrostal are expect
that their
business volume may nearly double in less than a decade,
NuclearFuel
reported. About a dozen reactors in Germany and elsewhere in Europe are
using or preparing to use the Russian-origin fuel.
According to an official at the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom),
current projections of the market for the fuel indicate that Elektrostal
could reach an annual throughput of about 100t of uranium/year by 2010.
For each metric ton of fuel produced, between 30kg and 40kg of HEU
from Minatom inventories are consumed. Proponents claim that the project has
important nonproliferation implications because it reduces Russian HEU
inventories. Minatom
has earmarked HEU
produced for icebreaker and submarine fuel to be blended down and used as
feedstock for German power reactor fuel.
German utilities have previously
contracted with Elektrostal
and Framatome
for the fuel on the basis of cost alone,
NuclearFuel
reported. German officials said last month that the program would get a
big boost if Russia were able to lease the fuel to be burned in German reactors
and then return it to Russia for disposal. In addition, according to
German news reports in August, some Social Democratic Party
legislators want to campaign for a program to lease the fuel from Elektrostal to German utilities and use the proceeds to fund development of a
spent fuel repository in Russia. [Mark Hibbs, "Framatome, Elektrostal Looking to Double
Business in Down-Blended HEU Fuel," NuclearFuel, 19 August 2002.]
{Entered 9/24/2002 CB}
5/17/2001: MSZ-PRODUCED NUCLEAR FUEL SHIPPED TO
INDIA On 17 May 2001 Russian officials
said that the Machine Building Plant in Elektrostal had completed work on fuel
assemblies for the two boiling water reactors in Tarapur and shipped them to
India, Nuclear Fuel reported. Elektrostal produced 58t of UO2 fuel for
the Indian reactors. According to
the article, the fuel was produced using Russian-origin uranium enriched to
2.1%, 2.6% and 3.1%, and was fabricated according to
specifications provided by India's Nuclear Power Corp. Nuclear Fuel noted that no
Western technology or equipment were involved in manufacturing fuel for the Tarapur reactors. This shipment was made under
a contract signed in 2000 (see the
8/16/2000
entry in the Russia:
Nuclear Exports to India Developments file), which was strongly criticized
by the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The NuclearFuel article states that its sources
in Moscow report that the May 2001 supply was a one-time deal but that Minatom
is negotiating a long-term contract under which Elektrostal may supply fuel to
India on a regular basis. The article also speculates that improved US-India
relations would not cause an increase in pressure from the United States on Russia
to abandon the deal.
[Mark Hibbs, "Russia Delivers BWR Fuel to India,
Elektrostal Eyes Long-Term Contract," NuclearFuel, Vol. 26, No. 11,
28 May 2001.] {Entered 11/29/2001 ES}
5/14/2001: MACHINE BUILDING PLANT TO INCREASE
NUCLEAR FUEL PRODUCTION On 14 May 2001, Machine Building Plant General
Director Valeriy Mezhuyev announced that the plant would increase production
of nuclear fuel for export and for domestic consumption. The increase is linked to
plans to supply fuel to power plants being constructed in
India,
China, and other countries.
Supply to the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland will be
increased as well. MSZ supplies fuel to these countries under a contract with
Siemens. The supply of fuel to 10 Russian
power stations will also be increased. Currently, uranium fuel made by the Machine
Building Plant is used in 75% of Russian nuclear power plants.
[Eduard
Puzyrev, "OAO Mashinostroitelnyy zavod v gorode Elektrostal rasshiryayet
proizvodstvo ernogo [sic] topliva dlya atomnoy elektrostantsii,"
RIA, 14 May 2001; in Minatom News Digest, http://www.minatom.ru,
15 May 2001.] {Entered 10/31/01 EC}
8/16/2000: RUSSIA SUPPLIES INDIA WITH NUCLEAR
FUEL IN FACE OF STRONG CRITICISM On 16 August 2000, Russia's Machine Building Plant in Elektrostal,
Moscow Oblast, agreed to supply India with approximately 58t of 1.66-2.6% enriched
uranium dioxide for use in its Tarapur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). For
more information, see the 8/16/2000
entry in the Russia:
Nuclear Exports to India Developments file. {Entered 5/21/01
RG}
5/24/00 MSZ TO PRODUCE FUEL ELEMENTS IN COOPERATION
WITH SIEMENS In cooperation with Siemens,
the Machine Building Plant (MSZ) in Elektrostal has started producing
fuel rods from reprocessed uranium for use in German, Swiss, and Swedish
nuclear power plants (NPPs).[1] Siemens will provide MSZ with up to 50MT
per year of reprocessed uranium from Cogema
in France and Sellafield
in Great Britain. In addition, Siemens will supply the casing for
the fuel rods and other components.[2] At MSZ, the reprocessed uranium
is blended with weapons-grade uranium from Russian military stockpiles.
Cooperation began in 1994 after the closure of the fuel rod factory in
Hanau. At that time, Siemens contracted with MSZ to produce fuel rods for
NPPs in Goesgen, Switzerland and Obrigheim, Germany. In a test phase, the
fuel elements were successfully installed and put into operation in 1995.[1]
Siemens plans to order 30MT of fuel elements per year.[3] The installation
of fuel rods from MSZ should begin this year in Germany and Switzerland.[1]
Sources: [1] "Siemens/KWU bezieht Uran aus Russland,"
Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung, 20 May 2000, p. 21; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe,
http://web.lexis-nexis.com. [2] Roger Boyes, "West Jittery over
Berlin's Nuclear Deal with Moscow," The Times, 24 May 2000; in Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com. [3] Wolfgang Schmidt, "Russisches Waffenuran
fuer deutsche Meiler," Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 7 Mar 2000, p. V2/11;
in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.
{Entered 07/12/00 NEB}
4/97: MACHINE BUILDING PLANT MUST LOOK ABROAD
FOR BUSINESS TO SURVIVE The Machine Building Plant in Elektrostal, Moscow
Oblast, also known as Elemash, was forced to seek business abroad and to
turn to conversion projects in order to remain viable financially. Elemash's
financial problems have arisen because domestic customers are unable to
pay it for the nuclear fuel it has produced, and because it no longer receives
orders or subsidies from the state treasury.
The plant recently signed a contract with the Korean
power industry to supply nuclear fuel to South Korean nuclear electric
power stations. China will probably sign a similar contract with Elemash
in the near future. Elemash, with a production capacity of 1,500 metric
tons, currently produces 900 metric tons of nuclear fuel annually.
The facility will continue to look abroad for business
because it is unable to find domestic partners that are financially sound.
In addition, Elemash has started to produce consumer goods to enhance its
financial status. It has the capacity to manufacture 35 types of consumer
products, and currently, 17 of those are being produced. Consumer products
comprise 10 percent of the plant's total production and air conditioners,
produced under a Korean license, account for more than one-third of production
not related to uranium. The facility can use the air conditioners to pay
for uranium through barter.[1,2]
Sources: [1]Aleksandr Rubtsov, "Russian Nuclear
Industry Workers Have No Choice but To Rely on Foreign Countries," Finansovyye
Izvestiya, 4/15/97, p. 1; in "Nuclear Fuel Plant Forced To Look Abroad
for Business," FBIS-SOV-97-106. [2] Igor Volobuyev, "Nuclear 'Elemash'
Hopes for Irons and Air Conditioners," Segodnya, 4/12/97, p. 6;
in "Civil Nuclear Fuel Plant's Problems Described," FBIS-SOV-97-104. {Entered
7/21/97 LK}
11/95: TWO-YEAR ANALYSIS REVEALS ERRORS IN ELEKTROSTAL
MPC&A SYSTEMS Minatom reported that in 1995 two cases of diversion
of low enriched uranium took place in Elektrostal from the Machine Building
plant. No cases of weapons-grade uranium or plutonium thefts were registered.
However, several incidents of diversion of natural uranium products from
Minatom facilities occurred during 1995. An analysis of 1992-1994 cases
of nuclear material diversion allowed for the following conclusions: thefts
were executed by the personnel of the facilities, MPC&A systems failed
to provide accurate and timely information on the missing material, inventories
taken after the incidents did not expose missing material, and the existing
MPC&A system does not prevent nuclear smuggling. For more information
on alleged incidents of nuclear theft or trafficking, please see the NIS
Illicit Trafficking Database.
["Document," Yadernyy Kontrol, November 1995,
p. 12; "Quantity Of Nuclear Junk Is Growing," Vesti, 14 September 1995, p. 1.]
12/94: UNITED STATES DELIVERS MPC&A SUPPORT
MATERIAL The United States delivered materials designed to
improve management of nuclear materials at Elektrostal, including labels,
personal computers, seals and software packages, under the auspices of
the US MPC&A assistance to Russia.
[DOE Public Information, Office of
Nonproliferation and National Security, 1/27/95.]
Page last updated 17 July 2003. The development section in this file is no longer being updated. For major
recent developments, see the
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file.
Comments or questions? Contact Elena Sokova at MIIS
CNS: esokovaATmiis.edu
