The Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP), also known as Fuel Element Fabrication Plant, is a nuclear fuel fabrication facility supplied by the Argentine company
INVAP
INVAP S.E. is an Argentine company that provides design, integration, construction and delivery of equipment, plants and devices. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and delivers ...
in 1998. The FMPP is considered a
Material Testing Reactor (MTR)-type fuel element facility, that produces the fuel elements required for the research reactor
ETRR-2.
The plant uses
enriched uranium hexafluoride
Uranium hexafluoride, sometimes called hex, is the inorganic compound with the formula . Uranium hexafluoride is a volatile, white solid that is used in enriching uranium for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.
Preparation
Uranium dioxide is co ...
(UF6, 19.75%
U235) as a raw material which is processed to produce the final MTR-type fuel elements.
The FMPP is owned and operated by the
Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) at the
Nuclear Research Center in
Inshas, 60 kilometers northeast of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
.
History
The
Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) contracted with the Argentine company
INVAP
INVAP S.E. is an Argentine company that provides design, integration, construction and delivery of equipment, plants and devices. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and delivers ...
to construct the Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP) at the
Nuclear Research Center in
Inshas with the construction works began in 1995, with pre-operational tests in 1997, and a final complete production in December 1998.
The
National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) was responsible for the technology transfer and Egyptian staff training during the commissioning and installation of FMPP by personnel from the (Uranium Powder Manufacturing Plant) and the (Research Reactors Fuel Elements Plant) were both plants in CNEA served as a FMPP design basis. During the setup of the facility a fuel element was manufactured using natural uranium firstly and then another one using 20% enriched uranium.
Overview
The Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP) is considered the most sophisticated
fuel cycle facility in Egypt, which is a semi-pilot facility produces the fuel elements required by the Egyptian second research reactor
ETRR-2.
FMPP has a production design capacity of 40 fuel element per year, with a total
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
content of 2054 g each and 220 days of estimated annual working time in two shifts with 8 hours each, which is sufficient to ensure continuous ETRR-2 reactor operation.
FMPP is under
IAEA safeguards.
See also
*
ETRR-1
*
ETRR-2
*
Nuclear program of Egypt
President Adly Mansour announced on 7 November 2013 that Egypt was restarting its nuclear power program in El Dabaa; a deal was reached with the residents in which it was agreed that a residential area will also be built. The Egyptian ministe ...
*
Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority
References
{{Nuclear Fuel Cycle Activities in Egypt
Nuclear technology in Egypt
Nuclear program of Egypt
1998 establishments in Egypt