State-owned enterprise Energoatom, U.S.-based Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and U.S.-based Central Storage Safety Project Trust (CSSPT) have signed an agreement on a $250 million loan for the construction of a centralized spent nuclear fuel storage facility.
OPIC will insure political risks (BOC coverage) on the funds to be borrowed by Energoatom, while the Ukrainian government guarantees the fulfillment of the Ukrainian enterprise’s debt obligations on the 20-year amortization loan.
The funds will be used to supply containers for storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel and other equipment, which will be provided by U.S.-based Holtec International.
“Ukraine will not spend about $200 million annually on removal of spent nuclear fuel to the Russian Federation, and it will safely store valuable nuclear materials locally until their processing becomes feasible and energy efficient as much as possible,” the ministry said.
As earlier reported, Energoatom in January 2015 signed an agreement with Holtec International on the development and introduction of spent nuclear fuel technologies worth almost $300 million.
