Mayak plant refuses to process nuclear fuel from Iran

The Mayak plant, which is Russia's only plant processing depleted nuclear fuel, will not accept depleted nuclear fuel from Iran for processing, Yevgeny Ryzhkov, the head of Mayak's PR service, told RBC, commenting on the information that depleted nuclear fuel from Iran's first nuclear power plant will be sent to Russia for processing. "We have nothing to do with the nuclear power plant in Bushehr (Iran). This power plant is to be put in use in two years. It is most likely to use fuel (uranium) supplied by Mayak," Ryzhkov pointed out. He underlined that Mayak had no technical capability of accepting fuel from a reactor of the VVR-1000 type, which is being built in Bushehr.

Mayak processes depleted nuclear fuel from Russian nuclear power plants and nuclear submarines. Before the State Duma adopted a law to impose a ban on processing foreign depleted nuclear fuel in Russia in 1998, Mayak processed fuel from nuclear power plants of Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland and a number of other countries.