In the future, Ukraine may also become a supplier of nuclear fuel to European countries.
Ukraine will produce nuclear fuel that can replace Russian fuel, including in the European market. This was said by Minister German Galushchenko during a visit to an enterprise that will produce nuclear fuel for domestic nuclear power units, the press service of the Ministry of Energy reported.
Galushchenko noted that the production line of the Ukrainian enterprise will produce fuel assemblies of nuclear reactors of nuclear power plants. In 2023, it is planned to complete the licensing and enter the commercial production of shanks, and in 2024, the industrial production of heads for fuel assemblies. These components will be used for the production of nuclear fuel for Energoatom’s needs at the Westinghouse plant in Västerås, Sweden.
According to the minister, today 17 VVER-440 units are operating in Europe, which currently has no alternative to Russian fuel.
“Unfortunately, many European countries remain dependent on Russian nuclear technologies. At the same time, Ukraine, having abandoned Russian nuclear fuel, switched its nuclear power units to nuclear fuel from the American manufacturer Westinghouse. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, and Bulgaria have also expressed their desire to make such a transition. And in the future, Ukraine can become a supplier of nuclear fuel for these countries,” said Galushchenko.
In this regard, the president of NNEGC Energoatom, Petr Kotin, added that according to the plan to create its own line for the production of nuclear fuel, Energoatom plans to complete it within three years.
“It is planned that within three years we will reach the full manufacturing cycle of nuclear fuel in Ukraine. 2026 is the date when we will be able to fully produce our Ukrainian fuel from the components produced here,” said Kotin .
He also added that elements that Ukraine cannot produce will be purchased from partners.
Recall that a year ago it was reported that Ukraine completely abandoned Russian nuclear fuel.
It was also reported that Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum on the construction of five nuclear power units in Ukraine. The total cost of the project is up to $30 billion.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.