After the outbreak of the full-fledged russian invasion of Ukraine, Energoatom finally refused to purchase nuclear fuel from the aggressor state. In order to transfer all power units to American nuclear fuel, the Company carried out a range of engineering works.
"Using of Westinghouse fuel in Ukrainian power units began even before the full-fledged invasion of russia into Ukraine, but from February 2022, we significantly accelerated the process of switching all reactors of domestic nuclear power plants to American fuel. For the time being, we actually completed all the necessary work. This is a unique experience of Ukraine and an incredible achievement of Energoatom's professionals," said Petro Kotin, President of Energoatom.
Several measures have been taken in order for all domestic power units with VVER-1000 and VVER-440 reactors to operate on American Westinghouse fuel, in particular:
The delivery to one of the Ukrainian NPPs of a dummy, required to confirm the compatibility of Robust Westinghouse Fuel Assembly (RWFA), became the final stage in the long process of preparatory work.
"Ukraine once again demonstrated to European states ways to overcome russian influence in the nuclear industry. To date, this is a real breakthrough, given no other country in the world has yet gone through such a path. And our state sets a real example," Petro Kotin emphasized.
Furthermore, one of Energoatom's facilities is currently engaged in the development of research samples of elements and components of fuel assemblies, which are necessary for working with nuclear fuel in the reactor cores at Ukrainian NPPs.
