Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory information

The Nuclear Fuel Factory (FCN)22°30′14″S 44°38′46″W / 22.504°S 44.646°W / -22.504; -44.646 is located near Resende, state of Rio de Janeiro, comprising three units, and has a production capacity of 280 tons of uranium per year. At present, FCN was modernized and produces at the Components and Assembly Unit the fuel rods and fuel elements needed for Brazilian nuclear reactors. The Reconversion and Pellets Production Unit is operating since 1999 with a capacity of 160 tons of UO₂ pellets/year. The UO₂ reconversion line uses the AUC process. The Nuclear Fuel Factory also produces other fuel element components, such as top and bottom nozzles, spacer grids and end plugs for export demands. Previously, Brazil supplied the uranium, which is transported to Canada where it’s converted into hexafluoride gas (UF₆), and then to the United Kingdom for enrichment before it returns to Brazil for fabrication into fuel elements.

The unit has an in-house nuclear safety program and an external one, for environmental monitoring. A nuclear accounting system, internally implemented, required by the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) and supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continuously performs a balance of the material in processing with a precision reaching tenths of milligrams.^[1]

In 2018 a seventh cascade of centrifuges was inaugurated, increasing enrichment capacity by 25%. This gives the plant the capacity to produce about 50% of the annual fuel requirements of Angra Nuclear Power Plant unit 1. The new cascade is the first part of a ten cascade expansion plan.^[2]