20 years ago, the youngest Ukrainian power unit started its operation to generate clean and safe electricity for Ukraine. On the anniversary of the power unit startup, honored guests and nuclear professionals who made this event possible gathered at the RNPP site.
The CEO of Energoatom Petro Kotin, Rivne NPP Director General Pavlo Kovtoniuk, and executives of other domestic nuclear power plants arrived at the site: Vyacheslav Stoyanov of SUNPP, Andrii Koziura of KhNPP, Dmytro Verbytskyi of ZNPP, representative of the U.S. company Westinghouse in Ukraine Oleksandr Rykhlo and Vice President of Holtec International Riaz Awan.
The grand old men of the Ukrainian nuclear power industry who participated in the startup operations attended the event as well. Oleksandr Koval, Head of the Rivne Regional Military Administration, also joined the event.
In his speech, Energoatom CEO Petro Kotin addressed the grand old men of the nuclear power industry who launched RNPP-4 20 years ago: “We are using what you have put your hearts and souls into, and thanks to you have been reliably generating electricity with Unit 4 for 20 years.”
In his turn, Pavlo Kovtoniuk noted that the startup of power unit 4 was a significant event in Ukraine. Due to its human, technical, and operating resources, independent Ukraine managed to complete and modernize the unit to meet the requirements of the European community. He also expressed gratitude to the professional team for their efforts.
Oleksandr Koval congratulated the nuclear workers on the 20th anniversary and emphasized that RNPP is a critical facility for both the region and the entire Ukraine. He thanked the plant's specialists for their daily work to provide our country with electricity.
For reference: 20 years ago, on October 10, 2004, at 10:52 pm, Rivne NPP Unit 4 generated its first kilowatt-hours for Ukrainian consumers.