|
On September 12, TVEL Corporation – the nuclear fuel producer celebrates its 10th anniversary. Today the Company is rightly considered one of the world’s leaders in fuel production for nuclear power plants. It completely satisfies the nuclear fuel demands of Russia’s NPPs, research and propulsion reactors. Forty two power reactors and many research reactors worldwide use the TVEL-branded fuel. Therefore, it keeps running each sixth nuclear reactor in the world.
TVEL Corporation affiliates 12 Russian nuclear fuel cycle enterprises, including uranium mining entities, machine-building plants and supporting infrastructure companies. The Corporation’s number of employees totals 40,000 employees. Thus, it holds 39th position in Russia’s top 400 companies (according to the Expert magazine) and the 6th one - in the “Machine-building” category.
TVEL supplies fuel to Ukraine, Armenia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Finland, Lithuania, China and other countries. The Corporation also completely meets the nuclear fuel demands of Russia’s nuclear power industry as well as of six foreign countries. Currently the Corporation’s activity is aimed at solving national tasks on meeting the growing demands of nuclear industry. The corporate enterprises provide almost a complete technological cycle of nuclear fuel production.
Today the Company has been fully adapted to the world business standards. The corporate enterprises were the first in nuclear industry to get international certificates of quality and environmental management. The main production enterprises and JSC TVEL - the managing company have been certified for compliance of the Quality Management System to the ISO 9001 international standard.
Much attention is paid to environment protection. The environmental management systems to ISO 14001 have been implemented at JSC Machinostroitelny Zavod, JSC Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates’ Plant, and JSC Chepetsky Mechanical Plant.
TVEL was the first one among the Rosatom’s enterprises to arrange and carry out the audit according to International Financial Reporting Standards.
History
Joint Stock Company TVEL was founded 10 years ago by the Decree No. 166 of the President of the Russian Federation “On Improving Nuclear Fuel Cycle Enterprise Management” dated February 8, 1996. The foundation of JSC TVEL as a managing company with the state-owned stocks was a measure undertaken to adapt enterprises to the intricate economic conditions. It allowed to keep the potential of the Plants - producers of nuclear fuel. Time has proved the correctness of the measure.
TVEL’s history can not be viewed separately from the processes of the State reforming in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Nuclear industry had to comply with new market economic conditions. The Company was established on the basis of Minsredmash. Close corporate contacts were established within the Company between R & D institutes and design bureaus, machine-building plants, processing plants and mining entities.
When creating JSC TVEL the shares of six enterprises including such major ones as Mashinostroitelny Zavod, Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates’ Plant, Chepetsky Mechanical Plant, were paid for authorized capital in 1996. Namely, at the moment of its foundation JSC TVEL owned the following percentage of shares of enterprises - 49 % of JSC MSZ, 38 % of JSC NCCP, 51 % of JSC CMP, and 51 % of JSC ChMZ.
The directorship of the managing Company started with steps, which showed to the involved enterprises the necessity of the created structure: restructuring of accumulated debt on the basis of mutual payments, organization of unified system of handling nuclear materials (distribution, accounting and control) as well as cooperation with R&D and design organizations on fuel quality improvement.
Obtaining the right to conclude foreign contracts for nuclear fuel supplies has contributed to the strengthening of JSC TVEL’s status. The sales of products in foreign countries, allowed to consolidate considerable finances, to accumulate initial corporate capital. A considerable work was also accomplished allowing to come up to its foreign customers with a comprehensive portfolio of services (including follow-up of fuel operation).
The Company consolidated the solving of tasks related to R&D provision, development of new types of products, modernization of equipment and implementation of new production technologies, improvement of business processes within the Holding. In general, at the beginning of development, the most complicated phase, TVEL successfully solved the problems attributed to creating of a major commercial productive corporation under intricate conditions of economy in transition. It is worth mentioning that establishment, formation and further recognition of the Corporation as one of the main structures of industry has been to much extent the merit of Vitaly Fedorovich Konovalov, the first president of JSC TVEL. Presently he is an adviser of the acting president of the Company).
Due to a consistent corporate policy aimed at gradual increase of the Company’s share (which means the State’s share) in authorized capitals of the subsidiaries it became possible to establish a system of effective management of the Corporation. Currently JSC TVEL is the owner of controlling share of all core Russian enterprises of uranium mining, production of fuel rods, FAs, structural and accompanying materials. As of June 2006 JSC TVEL owned 79 % of MSZ’s shares, 66 % - of JSC NCCP, 72 % - of JSC CMP.
The tribute for establishment of practically unified production technological chain within the Corporation – from uranium mining to nuclear fuel manufacturing under the Government supervision should be rightfully paid to Alexander Nikolayevich Nyago, president of JSC TVEL, who has untimely passed away. In fact, it is only now that TVEL has become real government Corporation, which owns not only registered assets but also determines the strategy of enterprises’ development, coordinates their activity and finally, provides the evolution of the entire Holding.
As a whole, the TVEL Corporation’s history is a process of a progressive development of the commercial productive structure under the market conditions.
Today, looking back to the passed years and at overcome difficulties as well as great success it is worth mentioning that: operational capability of a complicated system and experience of previous generations of nuclear industry’s employees have been retained, the achievements of scientific and production teams have become of use and enhanced as well.
10-Year Activity: Key Results
During 10 years TVEL Corporation has become one of the three global leaders in nuclear fuel production. Presently the Company holds a 17 % share of world market – indicator, which not every Russian major company can be proud of.
The Corporation’s hi-tech products meet the up-to-date criteria according to all main technical and economic performances. The 10-year activities resulted in creation and implementation of improved types of nuclear fuel.
Considerable results related to enhancement of its efficiency, reliability, safety, use of fuel have been achieved. The transition from a 3-year campaign to a 5-year one has been carried out. Innovations are aimed at improving of design solutions and materials which provide for the improvement of final product’s properties.
This process is based on a positive R&D policy of JSC TVEL. Within the activities relating the fuel modernization the Company actively cooperates with the following leading R&D organizations of nuclear industry - OKB “Hydropress”, RRC Kurchatov Institute, VNIINM, SSC Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, I. I. Afrikantov OKBM, SSC NIIAR, N. A. Dollezhal NIKIET and others.
It is a curious fact that under the conditions of a closed market during 15 years before the TVEL foundation the VVER-1000 fuel underwent only one major modernization (transition from a 2-year campaign to a 3-year one), which did not influence the external view of FA. But after establishment of TVEL these modernizations became real in average every three years.
Continuous efforts on modernization of Russian fuel have been a success. That has been proved by the latest victory in tender for nuclear fuel supply for Temelin NPP in the Czech Republic.
During the last years the geography of nuclear fuel supplies has been retained and expanded. TVEL Corporation’s positions have been strengthened in traditional markets with the Russian-designed reactors in CIS and East European countries.
The Company produces not only the Russian-designed fuel. Within the cooperation JSC Mashinostroitelny Zavod and Siemens (presently – AREVA NP) have mastered the manufacturing of Western-designed fuel. Today it keeps running 9 reactors at West European NPPs.
The geography of supplies has been expanded due to new reactors under construction in China, India and Iran.
In 10 years an effective holding structure has been established. An effective management mechanism has been formed. The existing production lines have been modernized, the new ones - put into operation.
Notwithstanding the conservative nature of the entire nuclear industry (which is partly justified) in some directions JSC TVEL happened to be a pioneer, anticipated the new trends. This can be confirmed by a number of up-to-date solutions which have been put into practice in the Corporation.
First of all it relates to the implementation of the Quality Management System and its certification according to international standards. The Quality Management System of JSC TVEL and its main corporate enterprises have passed the certification for compliance with ISO 9001. MSZ, CMP and NCCP received ISO 14001 Compliance Certificate for Environmental Management. The certification guarantees that the Corporation keeps the national environmental legislation, carries out activities on minimization of the man-induced impact to the environment.
These factors improve the Company’s public image. In general, the occupational safety issues are traditionally addressed with great attention at the corporate enterprises. Therefore, the radiation safety remains the priority in the Company’s activity. In 10 years the corporate enterprises do not witness a single violation ratable against the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES).
The corporate social policy is focused on the creating of the most comfortable conditions of labor and leisure, organization of health improving and sports events, support of nuclear industry veterans and retired personnel. Guiding by the principle of social responsibility of the business, the Company participates in implementation of many projects and programmes of federal, regional and international significance in the field of culture and sport.
The Corporation’s objective remains unchanged: to meet the world’s growing demand for reliable and state-of-the-art nuclear fuel for generation of safe and environmentally clean electricity.
“The Element of Future” – this life-proved slogan of the Corporation sets the directions of its development. A 10-year experience of JSC TVEL makes it possible to say: the Company is ready to solve large-scale tasks facing Russian nuclear industry. |