Westinghouse and Energoatom expand plans to nine AP1000 units

Monday, 6 June 2022

The two companies also restated their plans for a Westinghouse engineering centre in Ukraine to support the projects for the new units as well as a future decommissioning programme.

Energoatom announced earlier this year that it would stop using Russian nuclear fuel. It was already in the process of diversifying its fuel supplies, but will now be making a full shift to using Westinghouse fuel, supplied from the company’s fabrication site in Västerås in Sweden, with fuel assembly component production in Ukraine, with Energoatom’s Atomenergomash "currently completing qualification to manufacture top and bottom nozzles for Westinghouse fuel".

The agreement between the two firms was signed by Energoatom President Petro Kotin and Westinghouse President and CEO Patrick Fragmnan, at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant, where the first two AP1000 units will be built. The two companies already had an agreement for five AP1000 reactors in the country, but the new agreement expands that number to nine.

"Even during this challenging time, we continue to work actively with Westinghouse, our strategic partner. We will expand the areas and scope of cooperation and are confident that together, we will not only write a new chapter in the history of Ukraine's nuclear energy, but also make an important contribution to the energy independence of Europe," said Kotin.

"Westinghouse is proud to sign these agreements to fully support Ukraine’s current operating fleet with our industry-leading fuels and services and to increase the number of committed new AP1000 plants from five to nine. We greatly value our long-standing partnership with Energoatom and look forward to the work ahead to help advance Ukraine's carbon-free future," said Fragman.

Also at the signing of the agreement were Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and the Swedish ambassador to Ukraine Tobias Thyberg.

Last year, Energoatom signed deals with Westinghouse for nuclear fuel for VVER-440 reactors, with Westinghouse fuel in operation at six of the country’s Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors. Energoatom operates four nuclear plants in Ukraine, with a total of 15 units, although the six-unit Zaporizhyzhia plant, operated by its Ukrainian staff, is currently under Russian military control.

Energoatom reported on Monday that all the nuclear plants were working within their usual safe limits.