The authorities of the federal state of Lower Saxony have approved the expansion of the Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH plant in the city of Lingen to produce fuel assemblies (TV) using technology from the Russian fuel company TVEL, part of the state corporation Rosatom, Die Zeit newspaper reports, citing the regional environment ministry.
The plant in the city of Lingen will in future be able to produce Russian-type fuel elements. The Lower Saxony environment ministry has approved the corresponding expansion of the plant, subject to strict safety requirements.
The plant is operated by Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH (ANF), part of the French concern Framatome. ANF plans to produce hexagonal fuel assemblies for nuclear power plants using Russian designs. For this purpose, it is planned to use technologies from the Russian fuel company TVEL.
The conditions for starting production include a complete ban on the admission of TVEL and Rosatom employees to the territory of the enterprise, Die Zeit claims. Russian equipment and software must undergo independent external verification and be isolated from the rest of the plant's IT infrastructure. Fuel elements supplied by Russia are subject to 100% control