17 mar 2023 8:12 p.m
In view of the Russian special operation, Ukraine is giving up nuclear fuel from Russia. Now the country wants to produce its own nuclear material with support from the United States.
Ukraine plans to produce its own nuclear fuel to replace imports of the material from Russia. This is announced by the Ministry of Energy of the post-Soviet republic on Facebook. A statement reads:
“According to the plan, Energoatom wants to build its own nuclear fuel production line in three years.”
According to the ministry, Ukraine has already started production of fuel components for VVER-1000 fuel assemblies (Water-Water-Energy-Reactor) and plans to produce fuel for VVER-440 fuel assemblies later. The project is being carried out by the state operator of all Ukrainian nuclear power plants, Energoatom, in cooperation with the US company Westinghouse.
According to the authority, the licensing should be completed this year so that industrial production of specific machine equipment can probably begin in 2024. These will be used to produce nuclear fuel for Energoatom’s needs at the Westinghouse facility in Vasteras, Sweden. The department further noted:
“Ukraine, which had rejected Russian nuclear fuel, switched its nuclear power plants to nuclear fuel from the US manufacturer Westinghouse. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Bulgaria have also indicated their willingness to make such a switch.”
In the future, Ukraine could become a supplier of nuclear fuel to these countries, the ministry said.
All power blocks of the Ukrainian nuclear power plants are designed for the use of fuel elements from the Russian company TWEL. At the end of 2018, Energoatom and TWEL extended the contract for Russian fuel supplies until 2025. The Russian nuclear industry agency Rosatom assured that TWEL will continue to supply the Ukrainian nuclear power plants with modern and inexpensive fuel under the existing contract. In March 2022, Energoatom stated that Ukraine would completely abandon purchases of Russian fuel for its nuclear power plants and replace it with Westinghouse components. At the end of February 2023, Energoatom announced that from next year all units of Ukrainian nuclear power plants would run on Westinghouse fuel.
more on the subject – A nuclear Ukraine? The West overlooks the real danger
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