ELECTROCHEMICAL PLANT, JOINT-STOCK COMPANY ISOTOPE PRODUCTION The first «isotope» equipment at the Electrochemical Plant was put into operation on November 9, 1971. The first product was a few dozens of grams of iron isotope 57 Fe enriched to 80%. For the first time in the world, gas centrifuge technology was successfully applied to produce non-uranium isotopes. Today the annual output of isotopes reaches hundreds of kilograms. The company’s isotope products find various applications: ✽ Nuclear medicine ✽ Biomedical research ✽ Nuclear physics research ✽ Nuclear industry ✽ Space engineering ✽ Aircraft engineering ✽ Radio electronics ✽ Chemistry ✽ Geology ✽ Metallurgy ✽ Spectroscopy ✽ Nondestructive testing ✽ Agriculture ✽ Metrology ✽ Pharmaceuticals ✽ Radiology The isotopes of ECP were supplied to research universities and national laboratories all over the world, including Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Berkeley National Laboratory (USA), Cambridge University, University of Nottingham (UK), Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland), Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, University of Tokyo (Japan), and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany). Isotopes from Siberia have found application in more than 20 international research programs (search for neutrinoless double β-decay – projects NEMO-3, MAJORANA, AMoRE, GERDA, LEGEND; registration of solar neutrino – project XMASS; research of «dark matter» of the Universe – project WARP; project Kilogram on creation of a new standard for mass, and other projects) A complete process cycle is implemented: from obtaining a process substance, through isotope separation processes on gas centrifuges to obtaining commercial forms required by consumers from gaseous semi-products. This method of isotope separation allows receiving products with maximum enrichment and high chemical purity, ensures a competitive price, and our production capacity allows making the required isotopes in great amounts, even on an industrial scale. ECP’s isotope production is advancing towards new technologies that will open international and Russian markets for rare earth element isotopes (their promising areas of application are scientific research, starting isotopes for nuclear medicine, nuclear power industry). ❖ The plant’s expertise in radioisotope production is growing. ECP was the first in the world to develop and implement enrichment of nickel-63 in gas centrifuges. In 2018, a pilot batch of the product was produced with over 69% enrichment. This isotope will be in demand for the development and production of long-life (up to 50 years) power sources. ❖ In 2012-2018, ECP took part in an international project to create a new standard of mass and refine one of the fundamental physical constants: Avogadro number. As part of the project, ECP produced the required amount of silicon-28 (in the form of tetrafluoride) as raw material for polycrystalline silicon, which was used to grow a single silicon-28 crystal. In its turn, the single crystal was used to produce a prototype of a new mass standard to redefine the Avogadro number. ❖ In January 2017, a millionth zinc pellet depleted in zinc-64 isotope was produced at ECP. The pellets are used in Russia and abroad for nuclear power plants as an additive to the water coolant of the primary circuit. This reduces the radiation dose rate during scheduled repairs and accumulation of radioactive waste in the equipment, improves corrosion resistance, extends the service life of primary circuit pipelines and, ultimately, boosts the reliability of nuclear reactors. ❖ 2018. The enterprise mastered the technology of chromium-50 production in the form of chromium anhydride CrO 3 as requested by the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which coordinates the implementation of the project BEST (Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions), a global scientific experiment researching neutrino properties. The company’s staff solved the task brilliantly, ensuring the required chemical purity and concentration of the target isotope at 98%. Geography of sales: Russia, USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Finland, Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Uzbekistan and other countries. ELECTROCHEMICAL PLANT, JOINT-STOCK COMPANY RF, 663690, Krasnoyarsk Region, Zelenogorsk, Pervaya Promyshlennaya Street, building 1. http://www.ecp.ru Tel. +7 (39169) 3–33–21 Fax +7 (39169) 9–42–43 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ecp.ru Electrochemical Plant, Joint-Stock Company (ECP) is an enterprise of the separation and sublimation complex within Rosatom’s TVEL Fuel Company. The main type of product is low-enriched uranium ( 235 U isotope) used for NPP fuel production. Almost a third of Rosatom’s separation capacity is concentrated at the plant. The gas centrifuge technology used to enrich uranium also makes it possible to produce isotopes of other elements. ECP is among the largest producers of stable isotopes using the gas centrifuge method and is one of the world’s top five isotope producers.