In Russia, the Mayak Plant B operated from 1949 to 1960; Plant BB operated from 1957 to 1987. Plant RT-1 (PUREX Process_400 t/year) began operations in 1976. At Krasnoyarsk-26, processing of plutonium production reactor fuel began in 1964 also using the PUREX process. Construction of a new RT-2 plant began in 1972 with an envisaged capacity of 1000-1500 MTHM/yr but plant construction was never completed. The Tomsk-7 plant processed plutonium production reactor fuel, again using the PUREX process, beginning sometime after 1955.

Russian policy3 is to close the fuel cycle as far as possible and utilize recycled uranium, and eventually also to use plutonium in MOX fuel. However, its achievements in doing this have been limited — in 2011 only about 16% of used fuel was reprocessed. All used fuel is stored at reactor sites for at least three years to allow decay of heat and radioactivity. High burn-up fuel requires longer before it is ready to transport. At present the used fuel from RBMK reactors and from VVER-1000 reactors is stored (mostly at reactor sites) and not reprocessed. It is expected that used fuel in storage will build up to about 40 000 tonnes by the time substantial reprocessing gets under way about 2022. The material reprocessed will be burned in fast reactors by 2050, when none should remain.

In late 2007 it was decided that MOX fuel production using recycled materials from both light-water and fast reactors should be based on electrometallurgical (pyrochemical) reprocessing. The goals for closing the fuel cycle are minimizing cost, minimizing waste volume, recycling of minor actinides (for burning), avoidance of separated plutonium and executing all procedures in remote-handled systems.

Used fuel from VVER-440 reactors Kola 1-4 and Rovno 1-2 (in Ukraine), the BN-600 (Beloyarsk) and from naval reactors is sent to the Mayak Chemical Combine’s 400 t/yr RT-1 plant (Chelyabinsk-65) at Ozersk, near Kyshtym, 70 km north-west of Chelyabinsk in the Urals for reprocessing. The original reprocessing plant at the site was hastily built in the mid-1940s, for military plutonium production in association with five producer reactors (the last shut down in 1990). The RT-1 plant started up in 1971 and employs the PUREX process. It is reported to be running at about 100 t/yr capacity, following the loss of foreign contracts, but also that reprocessing does not keep pace with inputs, so some is stored there. About 93% of its feed is from Russian and Ukrainian VVER-440 reactors, about 3% from naval sources or icebreakers and 3% from BN-600. It earlier reprocessed BN-350 used fuel.

Recycled uranium is enriched to 2.6% U-235 by mixing a RepU product from different sources and is used in all fresh RBMK fuel, while separated plutonium is stored. High-level wastes are vitrified and stored. Plans to upgrade the RT-1 plant and enable it to take VVER-1000 fuel, have been approved and were to be completed in 2008. The 2009 federal program has it reaching 500 t/yr from 2012. Used fuel storage capacity there is being increased from 6000 to 9000 tonnes.

VVER-1000 used fuel is sent to the Mining & Chemical Combine (MCC) at Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk-26) in Siberia for storage. This comes from three Russian, three Ukrainian and one Bulgarian plant. A large pool storage facility

was built by MCC at Zheleznogorsk in 1985 for VVER-1000 used fuel, though its 6000 tonne capacity would have been filled in 2010. The facility was fully refurbished over 2009-10. In December 2009 Rostechnadzor approved expansion to 7200 tonnes and in August 2010 MCC was seeking approval to expand it to 8400 tonnes capacity to allow another six years’ input.

A Pilot Demonstration Centre (PDC) for several reprocessing technologies is under construction by MCC at Zheleznogorsk at a cost of RUR 8.4 billion, to be commissioned by 2015. Its initial capacity will be 100 t/yr, with a later increase to 250 t/yr. The cost of the RepU product is expected to be some EUR 500/kg. (A dual-purpose graphite-moderated reactor principally producing military plutonium, with associated underground reprocessing plant, is also there.)

The partly built larger RT-2 reprocessing plant at Zheleznogorsk was cancelled and was to be dismantled. However, this has been under review and it could form part of the new Global Nuclear Infrastructure Initiative. It is now being redesigned and is expected to operate from around 2025-30.

Since 2004 an 8600 tonne dry storage facility for used fuel (INF DSF-2) has been under construction at Zheleznogorsk and this was completed by the E4 Group at the end of 2011 at a cost of about US$ 500 million for the MCC. It is the largest dry storage facility in the world and will take 8129 tonnes of RBMK fuel, initially from Leningrad and Kursk power plants, followed by Smolensk. RBMK fuel is not presently economic to reprocess so is stored at reactor sites, and when transferred to MCC about 2012 will be stored in sealed shrouds. Further stages of MCC dry storage will take VVER-1000 fuel and increase capacity to 38 000 tonnes by 2016. Used fuel will be stored for up to 50 years, pending reprocessing.

In June 2011, Rosatom announced that it was investing RUR 35 billion in MCC to 2030, including, in particular, MOX fuel fabrication. In February 2012 the figure was put at RUR 80 billion minimum.

Bilibino’s LWGR used fuel is stored on site.

A small MOX fuel fabrication plant has operated at the Mayak plant at Ozersk since 1993. A 60 t/yr commercial MOX fabrication plant is under construction by MCC at Zheleznogorsk (the site of the ADE2 military plutonium production reactor). Another MOX plant for disposing of military plutonium is planned at Seversk (Tomsk-7) in Siberia, to the same design as its US equivalent. (Seversk had the other two dual-purpose but basically military plutonium production reactors, totalling 2500 MWt. One of these — ADE4 — was shut down in April 2008, the other — ADE5 — in June 2008.)