TVEL Corporation Address:
49 Kashirskoe shosse,
Moscow 115409
Tel.: +7 495 239-49-22,
+7 495 988-8282 (commutator)
Fax: +7 495 988-8383 ext. 6956
E-mail: info@tvel.ru  

It is interesting to know that…

• Radioactive phenomenon was discovered by Antuan Becquerel in 1898. At first it was thought that the discovered radiation is emitted by an atom. But only later it became known that their source is a nucleus.

• Pierre and Marie Curie contributed significantly to the development of knowledge in radioactivity. In 1903 they were awarded the Nobel Prize.

• In 1932 James Chedvik, a physicist, discovered a neutron, which brought about the beginning of a new nuclear era in the history of mankind. He became a Nobel Prize Winner too.

• Every living creature on Earth receives in an average 300 – 500 mrem a year. For instance, an everyday 3-hour watching TV gives 0.5 mrem, and dentist X-ray examination – 3000 mrem.

• The first nuclear reactor was built in the USA in 1942 under the direction of Enrico Fermi. In the USSR the first reactor was commissioned 4 years later. The project was headed by Igor Kurchatov.

• The first nuclear power plant was built in Obninsk (Kaluga region) in 1954. It was equipped with uranium-graphite reactor type, called “Peaceful Atom”, with 5 MW capacity. This NPP has worked accident-free for 50 years.

• Currently, 10 NPPs operate in Russia with a total amount of 31 Units. Their overall capacity is 23.2 GW.

• Till 2010 it is planned to construct 3 VVER-1000 reactor units, with a capacity of 1000 MW each - at Balakovo, Volgodon and Kalinin NPPs.

• In Russia, NPPs generate about 16% of national electric power. At that, in the European part of the country the NPPs’ share in total electric power generation amounts to 20 %, and in the North-West – 39 %.

• In 2000, nuclear power industry was the first to achieve the “pre-perestroika” level of production, as compared with other industries. Since 1998 Russia’s NPPs have provided annual growth of electricity generation in an average by 7 Bln kWh.

• Nuclear power amounts to about 17 % of electricity generation in the world today.

• The USA operate the largest park of NPPs worldwide. 104 Units are in service with total capacity of about 100 GW. They generate 20 % of the US electricity.

• France is the world leader in operating NPPs. Its 59 nuclear power plants generate about 80 % of the country’s total electric power. But their total capacity is less than that of the US NPPs, which amounts to about 70 GW.