Negotiations on a possible increase in purchases of uranium from the British Urenco Group were recently held with its responsible leaders by the head of the SE NNEGC Energoatom Petr Kotin, the company said on its Telegram channel on Monday.
“He (Kotin) said that any cooperation with the aggressor country, including the purchase of Russian uranium concentrate, is unacceptable for Ukraine, so Energoatom is ready to consider increasing purchases from Urenco,” the NAEK said.
Urenco Group specializes, in particular, in uranium enrichment (according to gas centrifuge technology), which is one of the technological cycles in the production of nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants. The company owns uranium enrichment facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain and the USA and supplies fuel for nuclear power plants in 15 countries around the world with a global share of about 29% in the global market for uranium enrichment services.
National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom (NNGC) urged participants in the electricity market to fulfill their obligations under contracts for its purchase and sale.
“It is important to continue to fulfill obligations under electricity purchase and sale agreements and take a prudent approach to intentions to declare force majeure circumstances when they are fulfilled. We must be united like never before and support each other in this difficult time,” the NNGC said in a statement.
Energoatom is the operator of all four operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine. It operates 15 power units equipped with water-cooled power reactors with a total installed electrical capacity of 13,835 GW.
The accession of Skhidny Mining and Processing Plant to National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom will have a positive effect on the former’s performance, but it must be preceded by a number of measures, including the corporatization of Energoatom, Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko has said.
“We are working out this way of joining. To do this, we need to take certain actions, in particular, to properly corporatize Energoatom. We are moving in this direction,” he said during question hour in the Verkhovna Rada on Friday.
At the same time, the minister said Skhidny Mining and Processing Plant, represented by Energoatom, has a single counterparty, and the support from the General Company “will solve many issues.”
As reported, at the end of October 2021, Head of Energoatom Petro Kotin noted the impossibility of merging the company with Skhidny Mining and Processing Plant due to its loss, but at the same time expressed hope for financial recovery of the company with the appointment of new head on October 6 Serhiy Shovheli.
Haluschenko earlier said Skhidny Mining and Processing Plant could not join Energoatom. He cited the EBRD and Euratom loans as the reason. However, he said that an alternative to accession could be a transfer to the management, which is working on the ministry.
At the same time, the minister considers it quite logical that Energoatom wants to gain control over Skhidny Mining and Processing Plant when it spends money on it.
The concept of stabilization and further development of Skhidny Mining and Processing Plant by transferring it to Energoatom provided for financial contributions to it by the generating company by reducing the contributions of part of the net profit to the state budget, the Ministry of Energy said at the time.
Energoatom, based on the results of its activities in 2022, must allocate half of its net profit to the budget, provided that the second half is directed to the implementation of an investment program.
The corresponding decision is enshrined in resolution No. 134 of February 16, 2022 on amending the procedure for deductions of a part of net profit (income) to the state budget by state unitary enterprises and their associations, published on Friday on the Uriadovy Portal.
“The share of net profit deducted by Energoatom based on the results of financial and economic activities in 2022 is determined in the amount of 50%, provided that 50% of net profit (income) from its activities is directed to the implementation of the investment program,” the resolution says.
According to Energy Reform, the government has yet to make a decision on the amount of deductions based on the results of 2021.
Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB has accredited Atomenergomash, a separate subdivision of Energoatom, as a supplier of top and bottom nozzles for the company’s fuel assemblies; production of these components is expected to start within six months, Energoatom’s press service reported.
“Necessary equipment has been installed at Atomenergomash to launch manufacturing. At present, pre-commissioning, commissioning, and operation qualification process are going to come to the end. Manufacturing top and bottom nozzles for Westinghouse fuel assemblies are expected to begin within six months,” Hryhoriy Horodner, General Director of Atomenergomash, said.
It is also noted that accreditation was preceded by the successful completion of an audit of Atomenergomash’s integrated management system for compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 “Quality Management System. Requirements,” SQSR 13-067 “Supplier Quality System Requirements,” as reported by Westinghouse to Energoatom.
“These components are likely to be used not only for manufacturing fuel assemblies to be supplied by Westinghouse for the needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, but also for the needs of other consumers of these Westinghouse products across the globe,” Energoatom said.
One of the priorities of Energoatom for 2022 is to launch production of some components for fuel assemblies using Westinghouse technology at Atomenergomash, the report said.
Atomenergomash is a multifunctional service subdivision of Energoatom, which develops and manufactures certified products as well as carries out unit and restoring repair of heat-exchange and heat machinery equipment, pipeline components for nuclear and thermal power plants of Ukraine.
National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom, taking into account the political situation, has prepared an order to harden the protection of its nuclear facilities and their infrastructure, Head of Energoatom Petro Kotin has said.
“We are introducing a special order to harden security at all our nuclear facilities and their infrastructure. It will, of course, provide for additional steps for the physical protection of the facilities. Of course, we will harden these measures. And, if necessary, we will allocate additional funding,” Kotin told Interfax-Ukraine during a visit to the Central Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF).
According to him, now law enforcement agencies are working out all the necessary steps to improve safety at the nuclear power plant.
“These are organizational steps. As for additional funding, issues are resolved within the framework of security protocols that are signed with the National Guard and other relevant bodies, in particular, the SBU. Now, this work is being carried out at all nuclear power plants,” Kotin said.
Concerning the CSFSF, the head of Energoatom said that all the required protection steps are also being taken on it.
“This is a nuclear facility, and therefore it is also very vulnerable from the point of view of a terrorist attack. It is only 14 km from the border with Belarus. All necessary steps are being taken to protect it physically, there are many of them, they are sufficient. You heard that the representative of the National Guard from the unit that will guard it said that security will be ensured,” Kotin said.
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