MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. The first Russian test nuclear fuel assemblies TVS-K will be loaded into US reactors in 2018, Vice President of TVEL Fuel Company Oleg Grigoryev told a briefing on Monday within the framework of the Atomexpo 2016 forum.

"The first Russian-made TVS-K test fuel assemblies will be supplied for the US nuclear reactors in 2018", he said.

The World Nuclear News (WNN) portal reported previously that Russia and the United States would create a strategic alliance to introduce Russia’s TVS-K type nuclear fuel to the US market of nuclear power plants. This requires an approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

TVEL has confirmed this information to TASS. According to WNN, "Global Nuclear Fuel Americas (GNF-A) and Russian nuclear fuel company TVEL have agreed to work together to introduce Russian-designed pressurized water reactor fuel into the USA. The companies have announced a strategic alliance to introduce lead use assemblies (LUAs) of TVEL's TVS-K fuel design in the USA and to seek licensing approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to supply the fuel in reload quantities."

"GNF-A will provide US-based project management, licensing, quality assurance and engineering services while TVEL will provide TVS-K design expertise, engineering support and initial fabrication of LUAs. Subsequent LUAs are planned to be produced at GNF-A's facility in Wilmington, North Carolina," according to the portal.

To date, Russia accounts for 17% of the world’s fuel market for nuclear power plants and fully meets the fuel needs of 76 power reactors in Russia and 14 other countries, including Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Armenia and China. The company’s annual export volumes exceed 1 billion US dollars.

In September 2012, the Russian State Corporation for Atomic Energy (Rosatom) signed a contract with Swedish Company Vattenfall Nuclear Fuel for the delivery of a pilot batch of Russian TVS-Kvadrat fuel for a power unit at the Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant.