Milestone Reinforces Ukraine’s Commitments to Climate, Energy Security Goals
NETISHYN, UKRAINE, April 15, 2024 – Westinghouse Electric Company congratulates Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear utility of Ukraine, on the start of AP1000® activities at Khmelnytskyi Unit 5 in Ukraine. This is a critical first step in advancing the commitment made by both companies under the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2022 for the deployment of nine AP1000 reactors in Ukraine.
Distinguished leaders on site at Khmelnytskyi NPP.
Today’s news follows the arrival of the first batch of Westinghouse VVER-1000 nuclear fuel for the two operating units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2024. The VVER-1000 fuel was manufactured at Westinghouse’s fuel fabrication facility in Sweden, which also delivered the first batch of VVER-440 nuclear fuel to Ukraine’s Rivne Nuclear Power Plant in September 2023 in a record-setting development program. This milestone strengthens the existing strategic partnership between Westinghouse and Energoatom to supply all VVER nuclear fuel for the country’s nuclear fleet.
“The Westinghouse company is our reliable strategic partner: both in the development and loading of alternative fuel into the VVER reactors, and in the creation of a fuel production line in Ukraine, and in the construction of new power units using Westinghouse AP1000 technology. During the war, we have not stopped, but on the contrary deepened and accelerated our cooperation,” said Petro Kotin, head of Energoatom.
“The facilities that we plan to build at the Khmelnytskyi NPP will enable Ukraine to make the largest recovery since the Second World War. I am very grateful to Westinghouse,” said Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy. “In 2020, we signed an agreement to develop fuel for VVER-440 type reactors for five years. But after the full-scale invasion, we significantly accelerated that process and did the impossible – Westinghouse, together with Ukrainian specialists, developed that fuel twice as fast.”
“This is a significant step for Ukrainian energy independence,” said U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink. “I would like to applaud the efforts by Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy, Westinghouse and Energoatom to prioritize and continue development of Ukraine’s nuclear energy industry despite Russia’s continuing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The private sector is key to Ukraine’s recovery, and America’s Westinghouse plays a leading role in ensuring Ukraine’s secure energy future.”
Westinghouse President & CEO Patrick Fragman remarks on the
impact of this project.
“Westinghouse is honored to be a trusted partner supporting Ukraine in its pursuit of clean, reliable and secure energy for generations to come,” said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse President and CEO. “This milestone moves us one step closer to bringing another AP1000 reactor online in Europe and joining our global fleet of AP1000 units in China and the U.S., and we remain proud to continue our long-standing, nearly 20-year partnership with Ukraine on proven and reliable nuclear fuel supply.”
In addition to the deployment of the AP1000 reactor, Westinghouse signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ukraine in September 2023 for the development and deployment of the AP300™ Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Westinghouse also remains a trusted partner to Energoatom’s current operating fleet with the supply of nuclear fuel and plant services.
The AP1000 reactor is the only operating Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, modular construction design and the smallest footprint per MWe on the market. In the U.S., at the Vogtle site in Georgia, one AP1000 unit achieved commercial operation in July 2023 and is producing power for the grid, while a second unit recently achieved initial criticality with commercial operation projected during the second quarter of 2024. Four AP1000 reactors are currently setting operational performance and availability records in China with eight additional reactors under construction. Bulgaria selected the AP1000 technology for two units at the Kozloduy nuclear site, and the technology is under consideration at multiple other sites in Central and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, India and North America.
