One contract, signed between the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) and CKBM, both Rosatom subsidiaries, was for manufacturing and supply of equipment for the refuelling complex. Rosatom also signed a contract with subsidiary Zio-Podolsk Machine-Building for the production, supply and installation of steam generators.
Production of the equipment is scheduled to take from three to five years with installation completed in 2025.
The Brest unit, a Generation IV lead-cooled fast reactor, is being built at SCC, near the city of Seversk in central Russia, and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2026.
Last month, the nuclear regulator Rostechnadzor issued a licence to SCC for construction of the Brest-OD-300 reactor.
The plant is part of a pilot demonstration energy complex which comes under Russia’s Breakthrough project for the development of closed fuel cycle technology.
A closed nuclear fuel cycle means spent fuel is reprocessed, and partly reused. Closing the nuclear fuel cycle would ease concerns over limited uranium resources and contribute towards making nuclear energy sustainable over the long term.
The complex will include a fuel fabrication module for the production of dense uranium-plutonium (nitride) fuel and a fuel recycling unit.
The start date for the construction of the plant has been postponed several times because of the need for additional testing of key reactor structural elements. RUB1.1 bn ($15m) was allocated for additional R&D in 2017.