The Ukrainian state company Energoatom announced the launch of the production of nuclear fuel components at one of its enterprises in 2023.
Energoatom said that it was about the production of fuel for its own nuclear power units using the technology of the American company Westinghouse. Now Energoatom is completing the process of obtaining the relevant licenses.
The head of the state-owned company, Pyotr Kotin, said that Energoatom took the course for independent production of nuclear fuel two years ago.
Kotin and Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko visited the enterprise where it is planned to start production. According to Galushchenko, Ukraine expects to “force Russia out of the nuclear fuel market.”
“Ukraine is one of the first countries to diversify the supply of nuclear fuel, and this made it possible to refuse to purchase it from Russia. Our common task with our American partners is to develop appropriate types of fuel as soon as possible in order to force Russia out of the nuclear fuel market,” the minister said.
Kotin added that Energoatom plans to enter the full cycle of nuclear fuel production in Ukraine in three years.
In his opinion, in the future Ukraine will be able to become an alternative supplier of nuclear fuel for other countries that use Soviet-style power units – these are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, Bulgaria.
Former President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that after the end of hostilities, Ukraine plans to replace for EU Russian energy resources. He stated that Kyiv “will guarantee the energy security of Europe.”
