KIEV, UKRAINE - July 19, 2018 – Westinghouse Electric Company announced today that Ukraine’s State Enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generation Company (SE NNEGC) Energoatom’s South-Ukraine NPP Unit 3 near Yuzhnoukrainsk in Mykolaiv province was loaded with a full core of Westinghouse VVER-1000 fuel. This is the first unit in Ukraine to operate with Westinghouse VVER-1000 fuel assemblies as the sole fuel source.
“Westinghouse began supplying fuel to Ukraine in 2005, when the first lead test assemblies were delivered to South-Ukraine Unit 3,” said Aziz Dag, vice president and managing director, Northern Europe. “We are proud to continue supporting Ukraine with their energy diversification by supplying a full core of Westinghouse VVER-1000 fuel to our customer, Energoatom.”
Westinghouse currently supplies fuel to six of Ukraine’s 15 nuclear power reactors. Beginning in 2021, the number of reactors with Westinghouse fuel will increase to seven.
“Westinghouse has made significant investments over the last several years in order to further enhance our fuel delivery support to Energoatom,” said Michele DeWitt, senior vice president, Nuclear Fuel. “We have dedicated production lines for VVER-1000 fuel and stand ready to supply fuel for further contract expansions.”
The nuclear fuel delivered by Westinghouse is manufactured in its fuel fabrication facility in Västerås, Sweden. Nuclear power continues to be an important energy source for the country of Ukraine, accounting for approximately 50% of its electricity production.