Upgraded Westinghouse fuel is now used only in Yuzhnoukrainska NPP / Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine’s SE NNEGC Energoatom is the only company worldwide, which operates VVER-type reactors while having two sources of nuclear fuel supply, according to Energoatom’s President Yuriy Nedashkovskyi who spoke at a briefing at the Brussels Press Club on October 29, the company’s press service reports.
"We have signed a contract with Westinghouse on the expansion of nuclear fuel supplies for Ukraine’s NPPs. Today we are the only company in the world, which operates VVER reactors, while having two sources of nuclear fuel supply. We are willing to share our experiences with the European companies that operate VVER-type reactors," said Nedashkovskyi, the company’s press service reported.
He said that due to the diversification of nuclear fuel supplies to Ukraine, there are two companies that deliver nuclear fuel: US-Japanese Westinghouse and the Russian TVEL. Nedashkovskyi pointed out that the companies from Eastern Europe, which operate VVER-440 and VVER-1000 reactors will also face the need to follow this path.
"Russian-made fuel is used in Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and other countries. They are yet to go through the process of licensing the fuel of the second producer, which Ukraine has already gone through. And this path is hard; we launched the process back in 2000. It was a way through the thorns to the stars," Energoatom’s president said.
At the same time, he told the reporters that the upgraded, Westinghouse-produced, fuel is currently used only in the power unit No. 3 at Yuzhnoukrainska NPP, but next year the company plans to expand the use of this fuel.
Read alsoWestinghouse nuclear fuel to be tested after year of use "To fulfill this task, we need the upgraded nuclear fuel to have been used in the power unit No.3 at the Yuzhnoukrainska NPP up until February next year, and then we have to carry out a number of examinations and tests. Only after this, our regulator can give us permission to expand the operation of this fuel," Nedashkovskyi said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in the framework of diversification of supplies of nuclear fuel to Ukraine’s NPPs, the country plans in 2016 to purchase more than a third of the needed fuel from Westinghouse, while in 2015, almost all fuel was supplied from Russia.
Energoatom intends to pay the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology UAH 16.85 million for the services of scientific and technical support of the expansion of the operation of nuclear fuel produced by Westinghouse to Zaporizhia NPP.
Westinghouse CEO Danny Roderick has said in an interview with UNIAN that his company is ready to put its fuel in all of Ukraine’s NPPs.
UNIAN memo. Ukraine ranks seventh in the world in terms of the installed capacity of its nuclear power generating units. Energoatom operates four nuclear power plants in Ukraine with 15 power generating units, all with VVER-type reactors. Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, operating six power units with a total capacity of 6 GW, is Europe's largest.
Energoatom is the largest electricity producer in Ukraine, accounting for about 50% of the country's overall power output. Energoatom is responsible for the safe operation of all nuclear power plants in the country.
According to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Ukraine annually imports nuclear fuel to the tune of over $500 million.
To diversify nuclear fuel supplies, Ukraine plans to buy over a third of fuel for its nuclear power plants from U.S.-based Westinghouse in 2016. In 2015, Russia accounted for over 90% of nuclear fuel purchases.