Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear utility of Ukraine, and U.S. Westinghouse Electric Company LLC signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development and deployment of Westinghouse AP300 small modular reactor in Ukraine.
The document was signed by President of SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" Petro Kotin and Westinghouse Chief Executive Officer Patrick Fragman, with Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko in attendance.
The agreement on the SMR construction establishes a joint working group to collaborate on areas such as contracting, licensing and the local supply chain. The Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko highlighted that the small modular reactors technology is very promising for Ukraine, especially in terms of the implementation of the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2050.
"Ukraine has every prospect of becoming one of the clean energy leaders and increasing nuclear generation capacity both through the construction of new high-capacity power units and through the installation of small modular reactors, the first of which may appear within the next 10 years", he added, noting that an important component of the agreements is manufacturing localization. After all, there are not so many nuclear power professionals of such a level in the world as there are in Ukraine.
In turn, CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC Patrick Fragman noted that his company is pleased to support the Ukrainian people and Energoatom with clean, reliable and secure energy.
"From nuclear fuel to plant services to electricity generation, Westinghouse is honored to be a trusted partner for Ukraine today and for decades to come", Patrick Fragman said.
"Energoatom keeps working on new projects of advanced nuclear technologies, on which the energy security of Ukraine depends in this challenging time. The company is doing its utmost to ensure that our state continues to move towards a carbon-free, clean future, an integral component of which is nuclear energy," Petro Kotin stressed in his turn.
As a reminder, the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2050 envisages the transition to carbon-free energy, for which nuclear generation will be one of the basic ones. The implementation of small modular reactor technologies is determined by one of the priorities of the development of the nuclear industry.
Another agreement signed by the parties provides for the deepening of cooperation between Energoatom and Westinghouse in the construction of the first of nine planned AP1000 units. In particular, it is planned to supply the major reactor components to the Khmelnytskyy NPP.
