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Westinghouse to most likely have enough fuel by late 2023 to supply all Ukrainian NPPs – Haluschenko
KYIV. March 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – By the end of 2023, Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs) will have the opportunity to completely switch to the fuel of the American company Westinghouse, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko said.
“We have fairly optimistic forecasts and confirmation that our cooperation with Westinghouse will enable us to implement this process (supplying with American fuel) by the end of this year,” the minister said on the air of the United News national telethon on Thursday, referring to his visit to the fuel production plant of American partners.
At the same time, he noted that the Ukrainian specialists present at this plant “are doing a lot for speedy production of the appropriate fuel to replace the Russian one.”
Answering the host’s question about the prospects for production of nuclear fuel in Ukraine, the Minister of Energy said: “We also have relevant agreements with Westinghouse on the construction of a nuclear fuel production plant in Ukraine. This will certainly happen.”
At the same time, Haluschenko drew attention to the fact that the issue of abandoning Russian nuclear fuel by entire Europe is now very topical.
“Russia has a fairly significant presence on the fuel market in Europe, and we discussed in detail with the EU and U.S. energy ministers during meetings that it is important now to ensure production of fuel in the required quantity as soon as possible in order to replace Russian fuel in the European market,” he explained, adding that it is impossible to quickly find a replacement for nuclear fuel, unlike, for example, gas, since it is produced in a certain amount, and increasing volumes takes time.
At the same time, the minister emphasized that the Russians have an almost monopoly position in the market for fuel for VVER-440 units.
“Therefore, we are now working to ensure that Westinghouse will start assembling these units this year, and thereby we will get rid of our strong dependence on Rosstat in this area,” the Minister of Energy said.
