KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine expects to start construction work on four new nuclear power reactors this summer or autumn, Energy Minister German Galushchenko told Reuters on Thursday, as the country seeks to compensate for lost energy capacity due to the war with Russia.
Two of the units - which include reactors and related equipment - will be based on Russian-made equipment that Ukraine wants to import from Bulgaria, while the other two will use Western technology from power equipment maker Westinghouse.
All four reactors will be built at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in the west of Ukraine, Galushchenko added.
Interestingly this has been in the works for almost a decade. Lots of good information here
Some good bits:
- Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear energy – it has 15 reactors generating about half of its electricity.
- Ukraine had been receiving most of its nuclear services and nuclear fuel from Russia, but is reducing this dependence. In June 2022 an agreement was signed with Westinghouse that will see the company provide all fuel for the Ukrainian fleet.
- In 2021 Westinghouse was contracted to finish building a new reactor at Khmelnitsky using AP1000 components from an aborted US project.
- The government is looking to the West for both technology and investment in its nuclear plants. An agreement to build nine AP1000 reactors at established sites has been signed with Westinghouse.
Seeing as 6 of Ukraine’s largest reactors are under Russian control in Zaporozhye, and that a good chunk of Ukraine’s national revenue comes from the export of electricity to Europe, the need to get more capacity online is apparent.
I bet they still construct it much faster than the constantly delayed Hinkley Point C in the UK
Nuclear is extremely expensive to build and takes a long time, is this truly wise for a country in the middle of an active war?
Well they either start it now or start it when the war is over. It might take a long time but it will take longer if they wait. Plus they need jobs for a lot of people to stay i imagine so the money will be well spent.
I think this is s good idea, only for the fact Russia is not allowed to target it. Energy is also always an excellent source of income. On top of all of that if you do nothing during the war your economy will stagnate.
I think the point is it’s much easier to harden NPP against some types of strikes than, say, PV farm
and there’s all that ban on strikes on NPPs which seems to be respected even now
Well, than one PV farm. Decentralization is a point in renewables.
~10 years IIRC, however maybe they figure that by the time they are up and running that the war will be over and they can gain more indepandance from relying on other countries that may stab them in the front?
But you are right its a costly undertaking while they are also actively asking for aid in a war.
More energy is good!
