Russia: Fissile Material: Uranium Fuel Processing: Luch Scientific and Production AssociationRussia: Luch Scientific Production Association (NPO
Luch) Научно-исследовательский институт Научно-производственное
объединение "Луч"
LOCATION: Podolsk, Moscow Oblast
Address:
24 ulitsa Zheleznodorozhnaya, Podolsk 142100
Telephone:
(011-7-095) 137-92-58, 137-95-46
Fax:
(011-7-095) 137-93-84
Sources: [1] Russian Defense Business Directory (Washington, DC:
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Export Administration, 1995), p. 84.
{Entered 10/12/99 MLB} [2] Nuclear Business Directory-2000
(Moscow: International Business Corporation, 2000), p. 140. {Updated
8/29/01 RA} SUBORDINATION: Federal Atomic Energy Agency STRUCTURE: NPO Luch has several technological laboratories
and experimental manufacturing facilities, a reprocessing
facility for "dirty" and clean scrap, and a central storage
facility.[2]
["Partnership for Nuclear Security:
United States/Former Soviet Union Program of Cooperation on Nuclear Material
Protection, Control, and Accounting," US Department of Energy,
September 1998.]{Entered 10/30/01 ES} ACTIVITIES: Luch Scientific Production Association was established
in 1946 as a research and development (R&D) and production facility for rare-earth
metals for the nuclear industry.[1,5] Later, Luch evolved
into a facility for R&D, manufacturing, and testing of high-temperature uranium fuel, fuel assemblies, reactor cores and special-purpose
reactors.[1,5] Luch is involved in developing and producing
space and mobile power reactors, nuclear-powered rocket engines, and high-temperature
gas-cooled reactors.[5,6] It was one of the main developers of the Topaz-2 satellite
nuclear power reactor and is developing fuel
elements and other materials for the Topaz-3 nuclear reactor, which
may use plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons as a fuel source.
Luch manufactures monocrystal elements
and fuel for space nuclear reactors. Luch developed the capacity to recover HEU from scrap and return
it to the processing cycle; Luch
receives damaged fresh fuel from other nuclear facilities, including the
Kurchatov Institute and Elektrostal. Annual HEU turnover
is estimated at one to two metric tons. It also produces alloys and components of tungsten,
molybdenum, niobium, zirconium, tantalum, beryllium, chromium, rhenium, ruthenium,
and titanium for the nuclear, chemical,
and electronic industries.[2,3,5] Luch produces
many civilian products from these compounds, such as
thermionic fuel elements, tungsten electric
heaters, and monocrystal products for space nuclear reactors; sodium sulfide
batteries; silicon carbide for super-large-scale integrated circuits; reflector
sets for the LT1 technological laser; metallic reflectors from monocrystal
molybdenum; and sintered tungsten blocks. [3,4,5]
A joint venture between Luch and Istok Scientific Industrial Association
(SIA Istok) was created in 1990 to design and produce clean power sources
for commercial and space use.[1] NPO Luch is a
member of the INERTEK international
joint venture, which develops high-tech products, new
technologies and advanced materials.[7] Sources: [1] Nuclear Business Directory-2000
(Moscow: International Business Corporation, 2000 edition), p. 140. {Updated
8/29/01 RA} [2] CISNP discussion with Russian nuclear official, 12/95. [3] "Luch Scientific Production Association," RUSSIAN DEFENSE
BUSINESS DIRECTORY, US Department of Commerce - Bureau of Export Administration,
1995, p. 84-85. [4] Visit by William Potter to Luch Scientific Production
Association, 5/96. {Updated 12/9/96 KVY} [5] Pavel Mizin et al., "Material
Consolidation at Luch: Lessons Learned," paper presented at the INMM
40th annual meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 26-29 July 1999. [6] GAO Report, Nuclear Nonproliferation: Security of
Russia's Nuclear Material Improving; Further Enhancements Needed,
GAO-01-312
Security of Russia's Nuclear Material,
February
2001,
p.37, http://www.gao.gov. [7] INERTEK Web
Site, http://www.inertek.ru.{Entered 8/28/01 RA} FISSILE MATERIAL: Several metric tons of HEU.[1,2] Sources: [1] "MPC&A
Program Strategic Plan," US Department of Energy Web Site, http://www.nn.doe.gov/mpca/index.html. [2] GAO Report, Nuclear Nonproliferation: Security of
Russia's Nuclear Material Improving; Further Enhancements Needed,
GAO-01-312
Security of Russia's Nuclear Material,
February
2001,
p.37, http://www.gao.gov. {Entered 8/28/01 RA} MPC&A: NPO Luch has been participating in the
US
Department of Energy MPC&A program since 1996.[1] Two major tasks
had priority in the beginning of the MPC&A program at Luch: consolidation of nuclear material to fewer
buildings and fast upgrades to material accounting, control and physical
protection in the buildings containing nuclear material and to the site-wide
MC&A system. By
mid-1998, Luch had consolidated HEU from 28 separate
locations to four sites in close proximity to each other; the number of materials
balance areas (MBAs) was reduced from 40 to five. Most of the site's HEU is
located in the upgraded portion of the Central Storage Facility (CSF), but minimal amounts
are stored in three other processing buildings.[2,3] Comprehensive upgrades have
been initiated in a central alarm station and in the five buildings containing
nuclear material, with the highest priority given to the CSF.[2,3] Other MPC&A upgrades include the use of
tamper-indicating devices (TIDs) and bar codes, installation of digital scale and
gamma-ray isotopic equipment for shipments, receipts, and internal transfer of
items.[3] A computerized database for
the location and identification of nuclear items has been developed and a fiber
optics network was constructed. Access to
nuclear materials was terminated for 350 of Luch's 2,090 employees.
In May 1999 a new Material
Consolidation and Conversion Program (MCC) began, under which consolidation
of nuclear material is linked with HEU disposition and financial incentives. As of January 2000, Luch
had downblended approximately 235kg of HEU, including more than 100kg of HEU from the
Scientific
Research Institute for Instruments in Lytkarino. A
second phase of the program began in February 2000 with the initiation of the
"Pilot Project," which increased the amount of HEU for downblending
and involved a second downblending site,
the
Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (SRIAR) in Dimitrovgrad. Contracts have been signed to expand Luch's
downblending operations to 500kg of HEU per year. This phase will be extended to continue downblending activities until a formal
US-Russia MCC Cooperation agreement is approved.[4,5,6]
This section is no longer being updated. For major recent developments, see the
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file. 9/8/99: MILESTONE REACHED IN HEU TO LEU DOWNBLENDING
UNDER MCC PROJECT;
HEU MOVED FROM LYTKARINO TO LUCH The US Department
of Energy's (DOE) Material, Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A)
program marked the downblending of 100kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to
low enriched uranium (LEU) by holding a ribbon cutting ceremony on 8 September 1999 at the Luch
Scientific Production Association. The downblending began at Luch on May 1999 under
the Material Conversion and
Consolidation (MCC) project, a part of the MPC&A program. The MCC
project has also moved all HEU from one building at the Scientific
Research Institute for Instruments (Lytkarino) to Luch. ["Significant Milestones Reached for the
MPC&A Program's Material Consolidation and Conversion Project,"
September/October 1999 News, US Department of Energy Web Site, http://www.nn.doe.gov/mpca/oldnews/ 09-10_99.htm.]
{Entered 11/26/2000 GD}
2/99: PERSONNEL TRANSFERRED FROM KAZAKHSTAN TO
RUSSIAN NUCLEAR INSTITUTES
In February 1999, approximately 450 employees, roughly
100 of whom were specialists, were transferred to Russia from NPO Luch's
United Expedition field test site in Kazakhstan. The specialists were transferred
to NPO Luch's facilities in Podolsk, the
Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dmitrograd (SRIAR),
Elektrogorsk Scientific Research Center, the High
Energy Physics Institute, the Institute
of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE), and other enterprises within
the nuclear complex. ["The Motto 'Personnel Resolve Everything'
Continues to be Important," Atompressa, No. 4 (333) February 1999,
p. 3; in "Minatom Collegium on Future Direction of Nuclear Sector," FBIS
Document FTS19990324001362.] {Updated 4/12/00 SS}
Last updated 28 February 2001 The development section in this file is no longer being updated. For major
recent developments, see the
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file.
Comments or questions? Contact Elena Sokova at MIIS CNS: esokovaATmiis.edu
