The Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk has begun operating its first block of high-performance generation 9+ gas centrifuges at the facility’s Isotope Separation Plant, part of Rosatom’s Nuclear Fuel Division. 

The plant is now the third of Rosatom’s four uranium-enrichment enterprises to deploy the latest centrifuge technology.

The upgrade is a key step in the ongoing modernization of the combine’s sublimate-separation complex, which involves phasing out older centrifuge models and replacing them with more efficient equipment. 

Full commissioning of the new centrifuges is slated for 2025–2027.

TVEL President Natalia Nikipelova said Rosatom’s fuel division has been meeting “record-high production” targets for several consecutive years while simultaneously advancing major modernization projects across the nuclear fuel cycle. 

She noted that Rosatom has already made substantial investments in upgrading fuel fabrication, uranium enrichment and conversion facilities, as well as manufacturing next-generation centrifuges.

Uranium enrichment involves increasing concentrations of the fissile isotope U-235 by separating it from the more abundant U-238. Gas centrifuges are the core technology used to perform this separation.

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