Step by step: How Ukraine is moving toward domestic production of nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants
10 June 16:34
The American company Westinghouse Electric Company has announced plans to join the construction of the 5th and 6th power units at the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant as part of its collaboration with Ukraine’s Energoatom. And this is far from the only project in Ukraine in which the company is involved. How, with its participation, Ukraine managed to abandon Russian nuclear fuel and launch domestic production of fuel assemblies for nuclear power plant reactors—Komersant investigated
Four nuclear power plants and complete technological dependence on a single nuclear fuel supplier, the Russian company TVEL—this was the legacy Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union in 1991. The desire to reduce this dependence emerged almost immediately. At least, according to Energoatom, the first attempts to diversify fuel supplies for Ukrainian nuclear power plants date back to 1992.
A few years later, the American company Westinghouse became a partner in this endeavor; by the late 1990s, it had accumulated sufficient experience working with Soviet-type reactors in Europe. Over time, this partnership expanded to other areas of nuclear energy.
The Long Road to Diversification
In 2000, an agreement was signed between the governments of Ukraine and the United States regarding the qualification of an alternative supplier of nuclear fuel for VVER-1000 reactors. These are 1,000 MW reactors, and they are in operation at all four of Ukraine’s active nuclear power plants. In addition to these, there are two less powerful VVER-440 reactors at the Rivne NPP.
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Following the results of an international tender conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, Westinghouse was selected as the alternative supplier of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants. According to Energoatom, under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement, the U.S. government provided the initial funding for the development and manufacture of the first test assemblies (LTA), as well as for related engineering services. As a result of this project, Westinghouse, in collaboration with Ukrainian specialists, developed and validated a fuel assembly design for use in the VVER-1000 power units of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
The very process of overcoming dependence on Russian nuclear fuel and, accordingly, the transition of Ukrainian nuclear power plants to alternative fuel from Westinghouse took not just years, but decades. And this can largely be explained by political reasons. This is the view of Hryhoriy Plachkov, head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine from 2017 to 2021.
“First came the ‘Orange Revolution,’ then came the Party of Regions, and these fuel issues were resolved in accordance with political agreements. There was a lot of information in the media claiming that American fuel was somehow substandard and generally unsuitable for use in Soviet-designed power units. But all of that was fake news intended to prevent us from switching quickly enough to an alternative fuel supplier, namely Westinghouse. In fact, in my opinion, this American fuel works better than the Russian one,” the expert notes.
The process of switching to new nuclear fuel has also taken so long because, as experts explain, you can’t simply remove all the Russian fuel and load in the American fuel. This process is governed by strict procedures and deadlines. Grigory Plachkov continues.
“The transition to new American fuel is not a simple process, because this fuel had to be certified and licensed for our power units. We had to go through the entire fuel cycle: three to four years. First on the VVER-1000 power units, and then we moved on to the VVER-440. This is all happening sequentially,” the expert emphasizes.
The South Ukraine NPP became the first test site. According to Energoatom, it was at this NPP, as part of the nuclear fuel qualification project for Ukraine in 2005, that six experimental fuel assemblies (TVZ-W) were delivered, which underwent “pilot” operation there over the course of four fuel cycles — from 2005 to 2010 — underwent “pilot” operation there. This was followed by the second stage of nuclear fuel qualification: by the end of 2009, 42 TVZ-W fuel assemblies manufactured by Westinghouse had been delivered.
In early 2010, they were loaded into the reactor of Unit 3 at the South Ukraine NPP. In March of that year, Westinghouse specialists conducted an inspection of the first six experimental American fuel assemblies.
As Energoatom emphasizes, the results of all inspections and measurements confirmed that this fuel assembly design could serve as the basis for designing fuel for Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. However, it took several more years to confirm the complete transition of an entire power unit at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant to American fuel. Leonid Oliinyk, Director of Corporate Communications at the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company “Energoatom,” continues .
“In 2018, Power Unit No. 3 of the South Ukraine NPP became the first power unit in the country to fully switch to Westinghouse fuel. Based on the results of fuel implementation for VVER-1000 reactors and with the aim of diversifying nuclear fuel supplies for VVER-440 reactors, in September 2020, JSC “NAEK “Energoatom” and Westinghouse (with the participation of the President of Ukraine) signed a contract to begin the licensing of nuclear fuel for VVER-440 reactors. “On September 10, 2023, the first pilot batch of 66 fuel assemblies was loaded into the core of Unit 2 of the Rivne NPP,” states Leonid Oliinyk.
According to him, as of today, all power units at the South Ukraine, Rivne, and Khmelnytskyi NPPs are partially or fully loaded with fuel manufactured by Westinghouse.
The goal is in-house production of nuclear fuel
The South Ukraine NPP, or more precisely its satellite city of Pivdennoukrainsk, is also linked to the launch of yet another joint project between Energoatom and Westinghouse. It is in Pivdennoukrainsk that a facility for the production of nuclear reactor fuel assemblies for nuclear power plants will be located. The Ukrainian government approved this decision in March of this year. The city’s community had previously granted its consent for the construction. The new facility will produce nuclear fuel for VVER-1000 reactors, which are in operation at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
Energoatom called this decision by the Cabinet of Ministers strategic. It can also be considered logical. Back in September 2024, a Framework Agreement was signed between JSC “NAEK “Energoatom” and Westinghouse regarding the creation of a technological complex for the production of fuel assemblies. A feasibility study for this complex has already been developed, a positive expert report has been received, and a positive conclusion has been issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
In 2025, an Energoatom subsidiary “VP “Atomenergomash” received a certificate from Westinghouse confirming its status as a qualified and approved supplier of fuel assembly components for VVER-1000 reactors using Westinghouse technology. According to Energoatom, design documentation for a fuel assembly production complex is already being developed, and thus the creation of its own nuclear fuel production line has effectively begun.
However, Ukraine cannot ensure a full cycle of its own nuclear fuel production. This is pointed out by Hryhoriy Plachkov, who served as head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine from 2017 to 2021.
“Uranium enrichment is a dual-use technology. You can enrich uranium to a level suitable for use in a reactor core, or you can enrich it to create a nuclear bomb. We do not have enrichment technology. It is possessed by certain states that have nuclear weapons. And this is a rather costly part of the process, as it requires a great deal of resources: electricity, centrifuges, and so on. “In other words, we won’t be able to transition to a fully closed-loop fuel production cycle. But we can produce components for fuel assemblies—the tail sections and heads for fuel cassettes,” the expert notes.
In May of this year, it was reported that Atomenergomash had received the necessary materials to manufacture the first batch of fuel assembly tails for the VVER-1000. The production time for this batch is four months. The qualification process for another fuel assembly component—fuel cassette heads—is also underway.
New power units for nuclear power plants
The Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant is another location in Ukraine where the American company Westinghouse is ready to realize its technological potential.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly voiced an ambitious goal—to increase the total capacity of the Khmelnitsky NPP to over 6,000 MW, which would make this nuclear power plant the largest in Europe. This can be achieved by constructing two power units with VVER-1000 reactors and two more power units using American AP1000 technology at the Khmelnitsky NPP.
Energoatom intended to implement the first part of the plan by purchasing two VVER-1000 reactors from Bulgaria to complete the construction of the 3rd and 4th power units at the Khmelnitsky NPP. However, Bulgaria refused to sell them. Following this, the idea was proposed to provide one of the European manufacturers with technical specifications for this project so that it could manufacture the necessary equipment.
The second part of the plan involves the construction of the 5th and 6th power units of the Khmelnitsky NPP with the involvement of Westinghouse. As reported in a comment to the publication
“In 2022, a Declaration was signed on the commencement of the practical implementation of the joint project between SE “NAEK “Energoatom” and Westinghouse Electric Company for the construction of AP1000 power units at the Khmelnitsky NPP site. Also, based on the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 52-r dated January 20, 2023, ‘On Organizational Measures for the Construction of Power Units at the Khmelnitsky NPP’ and the initial data provided by Westinghouse, the owner of the AR1000 technology, has developed a feasibility study for the construction of power units No. 5 and 6 of the Khmelnitsky NPP with AR1000 reactor units. “The feasibility study materials underwent a comprehensive state review by the state enterprise ‘Ukrderzhbudekspertiza,’” the official noted.
Westinghouse also participated in a comprehensive assessment of the feasibility of completing the construction of Power Units 3 and 4 at the Khmelnitsky NPP. In particular, Westinghouse conducted a GAP analysis of the project to complete the construction of Units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnitsky NPP for the implementation of modern safety systems. In other words, the assessment evaluated the compliance of the current status of the completion of these power units, based on VVER-1000 equipment, with modern nuclear safety standards. Westinghouse does not appear to be considering direct participation in the completion of Units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnitsky NPP. And there may be a simple explanation for this. Grigory Plachkov, head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine from 2017 to 2021, continues.
“Westinghouse is not announcing any intention to complete the third and fourth units of the Khmelnitsky NPP because, in my opinion, they understand that doing so within the 1986 building structures is quite dangerous. After all, those structures were built for the VVER-1000 reactor, not the American AP-1000. The layout is different, and the equipment is installed differently. It’s a different story when you have a greenfield site and can build according to the design. That’s why it’s better for them to build from scratch than to finish building something unclear,” the expert believes.
In fact, the American company’s involvement in the transformation processes taking place in Ukraine’s nuclear energy sector is already quite extensive: this includes the supply of nuclear fuel, support for launching its production in Ukraine, and the potential construction of two units at the Khmelnitsky NPP. Moreover, the involvement is so extensive that some may wonder whether it is worth considering diversifying the cooperation. Grigory Plachkov’s perspective.
“I think we should take a calm view of the Ukrainian nuclear energy sector’s dependence on cooperation with the American company Westinghouse. Better with the Americans than with the crazy Russians. That’s obvious. If we’re talking, for example, about another foreign fuel manufacturer, then that fuel would need to be licensed—certified and licensed at every power unit. Because it’s not project-specific fuel. And for other fuel, it needs to spend four years in the reactor core,” the expert notes.
At Energoatom, however, they state that they are open to constructive cooperation with suppliers of nuclear fuel and technologies, provided that all processes comply with Ukrainian legislation and guarantee the safe implementation of the products. Additionally, in the context of ensuring diversification, they are considering the construction of their own nuclear fuel assembly line, which would be Ukraine’s first step toward producing its own fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants in the future.
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