This was announced by President of SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" Petro Kotin, while responding to questions from President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Academician Anatoliy Zagorodniy, during the signing of the updated General Agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between NASU and NNEGC.
"We have signed a very important agreement for us with our strategic partner – CAMECO (Canada) – to supply us with all the required quantity of uranium. In particular, it is provided that from 2024 through 2035 CAMECO will provide 100% of Energoatom’s needs for natural uranium hexafluoride (UF6) by supplying it along with uranium conversion services for reactors of Rivne, Khmelnytskyi and South Ukraine NPPs. A relevant option is also envisaged for Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after its complete de-occupation. Another agreement provides the supply of a full quantity of uranium mined by the domestic Mining and Processing Plant (SkhidGZK) to CAMECO company", Petro Kotin said.
He added that the Company's annual need for uranium hexafluoride is up to 2.4 thousand tons of the product. Under conditions of the russian military aggression, SkhidGZK managed to mine about 500 tons, the rest – 1.9 thousand tons – will be supplied from Canada.
The first batch of Ukrainian uranium mined at the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant was loaded and dispatched by Energoatom to Canada in September of this year.
Furthermore, within the framework of the agreements concluded with Canadian and American partners, Energoatom's support in increasing the production capacity of the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant and the construction of a Ukrainian enterprise for the conversion of uranium mined at SkhidGZK into uranium hexafluoride are foreseen. This will be a significant step on the way to creating a complete closed nuclear-fuel cycle in Ukraine.
