Ukraine to Commence Construction of Four New Nuclear Reactors This Year
Ukraine plans to start the construction of four new nuclear power units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant this summer or autumn to compensate for the loss of energy capacity due to the war with Russia. Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko shared this information in an interview with Reuters.
Two power units, including reactors and associated equipment, will be built based on Russian equipment that Ukraine intends to import from Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the other two units will utilize Western technologies from the energy equipment manufacturer Westinghouse.
Previously, the Ukrainian government announced plans to construct new power units in 2024 without specifying the timeline, and there was no information about simultaneously building two units, as stated by Herman Halushchenko.
It is worth noting that the construction of the third and fourth power units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant began in the 1980s but was suspended. After gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine built three new nuclear reactors, one each at the Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, and Rivne nuclear power plants.
Currently, the three nuclear power plants under Ukrainian control generate over 55% of the country's electricity consumption. Kyiv aims to increase this sector to compensate for the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine.
In parallel with the construction of VVER-1000 (water-cooled water-moderated energy reactors) units from the Soviet era, Ukraine plans to initiate preparatory construction work for the placement of two modern Western units of the AR1000 type, also at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant.
As previously reported by The Gaze, on November 22, 2021, the Ukrainian state enterprise Energoatom and the American company Westinghouse signed two agreements for cooperation to implement a pilot project for the construction of AR1000 power units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant. On January 20, 2023, the Ukrainian government approved the proposals from the Ministry of Energy for the development of the Technical and Economic Justification for the construction of a nuclear facility using the technical characteristics of the AR1000 reactor unit. On December 17, 2023, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed an agreement for the procurement of equipment for the fifth power unit of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant.
The Gaze also reported earlier that Poland is set to construct its first nuclear power plant, also using AR1000 reactors. The publication covered the launch of the first new nuclear reactor in the United States in seven years.