US may help Ukraine in own uranium processing

"At present, ConverDyn is interested in cooperation with Ukrainian companies in the field of uranium conversion services for Ukraine’s nuclear energy industry," the statement reads.

Representatives of the American company and the management of the Nuclear Fuel met in Kyiv on June 23, 2015, the Ukrainian concern reported.

According to the statement, "During the meeting, the parties discussed the potential possibility of jointly building the uranium hexafluoride production facilities in Ukraine."

UNIAN memo. Currently, over 95% of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants is being imported from Russia. Russia also has a monopoly position regarding uranium enrichment for Ukraine.

Seeking to diversify energy supply sources, Ukraine has been implementing a program of introducing at the nuclear power facilities with WWER reactors the nuclear fuel produced by the US-based Westinghouse.

In addition, this spring, the state company Energoatom, the operator of all nuclear power plants operating in Ukraine, has signed a contract for supplies of enriched uranium with the French energy company AREVA, as a next step in diversifying supplies of nuclear materials for the country’s nuclear power plants.

The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. The front end stage consists of the preparation of the fuel, including mining of the uranium ore and its processing; the service period is when the fuel is used during reactor operation; and the back end, when it is necessary to safely manage, contain, and either reprocess or dispose of spent nuclear fuel.

Uranium hexafluoride is widely used in uranium enrichment.

Presently, Ukraine only mines uranium and sends it for further processing to Russia.