Ukrainian nuclear power plants will be able to fully switch to fuel from the American company Westinghouse by the end of 2023, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said.
“We have quite optimistic forecasts and confirmation that our cooperation with Westinghouse will enable us to implement this process (provision of American fuel – ER) already by the end of this year,” the minister said on the air of national TV marathon “United News” on Thursday, referring to his visit to the American partners’ fuel fabrication plant.
At that he noted that Ukrainian specialists present at the plant “are doing a lot to produce the corresponding fuel as soon as possible in order to replace the Russian fuel.
Answering the presenter’s question about the prospects of nuclear fuel production in Ukraine, the head of the Ministry of Energy said: “We also have relevant agreements with Westinghouse to build a nuclear fuel production plant in Ukraine. There is no doubt that this will be done.
Along with this Galushchenko paid attention to the fact that the whole Europe is now very urgent to stop using Russian nuclear fuel.
“During our meetings with ministers of power of EU and USA we discussed in details that it is important to ensure fuel production in necessary amount as soon as possible in order to replace Russian fuel in European market”, – he explained, adding that it is impossible to quickly find nuclear fuel substitute, unlike, for example, for gas, because it is produced in certain amount, and increase of amount requires time.
At the same time the minister emphasized that the Russians have almost a monopoly position on the market of fuel for VVER-440 units.
“The Minister stressed that the Russian Federation is nearly a monopolist on the market of VVER-440 power units, therefore we are working to ensure that Westinghouse starts producing assemblies for these units this year which will help to get rid of strong dependence on Rosatom in this area.
As reported, in early March 2022, after a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Energoatom completely abandoned the purchase of Russian nuclear fuel.
On June 2, at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant, Energoatom and the US Westinghouse signed an agreement to supply nuclear fuel to all Ukrainian nuclear power plants with 15 power units (currently 7 power units are loaded with this fuel – ER).
Before this in the very beginning of 2022 Peter Kotin, President of Energoatom, in his comments to Interfax-Ukraine noted that it would take Westinghouse about two years to be ready to cover the fuel demand of the NAEK for 13 existing VVER-1000 units, for which time the nuclear power plants have enough fuel.
Asked about the timing of Westinghouse fuel deliveries for the two VVER-440s at the Rivne NPP, Kotin indicated that the first batch of American fuel for VVER-440s will be delivered in 2025.
Then in a March 2022 interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Kotin explained that there were no questions about fuel for VVER-1000, while more effort was needed for fuel for VVER-440 so that Westinghouse would have time to provide supplies next year, which is 2023.
At the same time, Kotin noted that Energoatom is also optimizing fuel delivery schedules so that the U.S. partners can meet the fuel demand. According to him, due to the reduced consumption of electricity during the war, which resulted in reduced production, the units will be able to work longer on the fuel already brought in.
As part of the cooperation, Energoatom and Westinghouse launched a training program for Ukrainian nuclear specialists in the United States, under which more than 60 specialists and nuclear graduates will study the AP1000® technology.
