On December 26, 2023, SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" reported in the Prozorro electronic system about the conclusion of an agreement with Westinghouse Electric Company LLC regarding the purchase of equipment for the implementation of the AP1000 nuclear installation. The cost of the contract is $ 437.5 mln.
Ukraine, in cooperation with its U.S. partners, keeps moving towards the complete destruction of russia's monopoly in the nuclear technology market. On December 17, 2023, at the office of the Ministry of Energy, in the presence of Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko, President of SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" Petro Kotin and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Westinghouse Electric Company Patrick Fragman signed an agreement on the purchase of equipment for Khmelnytska NPP power unit 5. It will be built using the U.S. AP1000 technology.
"There were no such reactors in Ukraine, there are no such ones in the post-Soviet space, and there are no such ones in Europe yet. This is one of the most advanced technologies in nuclear industry, enabling to maintain safety systems of nuclear plants even in the event of blackouts and lack of diesel generators or other power supply systems", Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko stressed. He added that by signing these agreements, Ukraine continues the implementation of the course for a complete departure from Soviet-russian technologies in nuclear industry, and strengthens cooperation in this direction with the U.S. partners as well.
"This is essential for strengthening Ukraine's energy security and renewing our nuclear power industry, which was, is and will be the key generation in Ukraine," German Galushchenko emphasized.
Petro Kotin noted that obtaining this equipment is of great importance for the Ukrainian energy system, since the actual capacity of AP1000 units is 1,100 MW, while currently the most powerful nuclear units in Ukraine are 1,000 MW.
"We have reached a crucial stage in the process, which was started back in 2021 during the visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the USA. And I am grateful that we are supported by the Government and the Ministry of Energy, in particular, in the adoption of those decisions that allowed us to sign these contracts," President of Energoatom noted, adding that the construction of the relevant facilities will begin immediately after the adoption of the necessary law by the Verkhovna Rada.
In turn, Patrick Fragman noted that AP1000 technology is one of the most promising in the world. "We are moving to a new level of cooperation. This agreement is of fundamental importance for the energy security of Ukraine, because it is a very reliable technology. Currently, five AP1000 units are in operation in the world, in particular in the USA and China, and five more are nearly ready for commissioning. Poland and Bulgaria are interested in building such reactors, as well as several other countries," Westinghouse President and CEO highlighted.
As a reminder, on November 22, 2021, SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" and Westinghouse signed two cooperation agreements with a view to implement a pilot project for the construction of AP1000 power units at the Khmelnytska NPP site. On January 20, 2023, the Government by its ordinance approved the proposals of the Ministry of Energy to develop a feasibility study for the construction of a nuclear installation using the technical characteristics of an AP1000 type reactor installation.
In general, under the decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the memoranda concluded between SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" and the U.S. Westinghouse Electric Company, 9 power units are to be built in Ukraine using AP1000 technology. The first two will be built at the Khmelnytska NPP site.
