On November 27, 2023, Petro Kotin, President of SE «NNEGC «Energoatom», and Urenco Chief Executive Officer Boris Schucht signed a contract on the supply of enriched uranium product for Ukrainian NPPs.
According to the document, Urenco will supply Energoatom with enriched uranium until 2035 with an option to renew the contract until 2043.
As Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko stressed, the manufacture of nuclear fuel, the component of which is uranium, is crucial for ensuring national security. That is why the state is working on ramping up such production and strengthening cooperation with international partners in this field. This should be another step towards pushing russia out of the global nuclear market.
«Energoatom has reached a new important strategic agreement with our reliable partner Urenco and will have stable supplies of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel manufacture for decades to come. We have taken another step towards ensuring the energy independence of our country,» said Petro Kotin, President of the Company.
After abandoning russian nuclear fuel, Westinghouse Electric Sweden (hereinafter referred to as Westinghouse) became the sole supplier of fuel assemblies for the needs of power plants of SE «NNEGC «Energoatom» while the supplier of enriched uranium, used for Westinghouse fuel manufacture, is the UK-based Urenco Enrichment Company Ltd (Urenco).
Welcoming the development of cooperation between the companies, Boris Schucht noted that since the outbreak of a full-fledged invasion, Urenco will continue to play its part to assist Ukraine to generate power for the country: «We have provided support to our customer Energoatom, and its employees, and increased our supply of nuclear enrichment services to them to help enable energy independence and security of supply. This latest agreement will continue our productive working relationship.»
Current contracts with Urenco on the supply of nuclear materials, namely, enriched uranium product (EUP) and natural uranium hexafluoride (UF6), expire in 2025. Therefore, it was vital for Energoatom to continue long-term cooperation, which will ensure the stability of the supply of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel manufacture for the needs of Ukrainian NPPs.
