COUNTRY PAVILLIONS | WNE2025 Ukraine: Expanding capacity with diversity
Ukraine continues to put nuclear at the heart of its domestic energy policy as it seeks to diversify its supply chain.
Ukraine is home to 15 nuclear reactors across four sites which collectively have a combined capacity of more than 13 GWe. All are VVER designs and mostly VVER V-320s which were commissioned between 1980 and 2004. VVER V-320s produce 950 MWe each. Since the first months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, Ukraine’s and indeed Europe’s largest nuclear plant, the six reactor Zaporizhia plant (ZNPP) has been under the control of the occupying forces. Conflict flaring at and around the plant has led to grave concerns over the potential for an accident that may lead to a release of radiological materials. Towards the end of September, for example, ZNPP was
disconnected from its last remaining 750 kV external main power line having previously lost the connection to its last 330 kV back-up line in May. This was the 10th time power has been lost from the site since the start of the conflict. ZNPP stopped generating grid electricity in September 2022, but
has kept at least one unit in hot shutdown mode since October that year to provide district heating as well as process steam for liquid waste treatment at the site. All six reactors are now in cold shutdown after unit 4 reached this state in April last year, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Although the reactors need less cooling water than in hot
shutdown mode and this status therefore enhances the overall safety of the facility, power supplies are still needed to keep cooling water pumps running for both the reactors and the spent fuel storage facilities. Emergency diesel generators supply back-up power but have a limited capacity without refuelling. With military activities such as drone strikes and shelling apparently targeting the facility or related infrastructure, the latest incident underlines the extremely fragile nuclear safety and security situation at the power plant. These concerns
also extend to other nuclear facilities in Ukraine such as Chornobyl. A drone attack in February pierced a substantial 15 m² hole in the external cladding of the roof of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure, with further damage to an area of about 200 m2. Temporary repairs to the NSC began in May. While previously
Ukraine had relied almost exclusively on Russia for its nuclear sector, the country is making concerted efforts to change that. A Memorandum of Understanding
between Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear utility of Ukraine, and technology firm Westinghouse was signed in 2022 for the deployment of nine AP1000 reactors in Ukraine. In April last year, work on the AP1000 unit 5 of the Khmelnytskyi
plant started. It followed the March delivery of a first batch of Westinghouse VVER-1000 nuclear fuel for two operating units at the Khmelnytskyi plant in March 2024 and VVER-440 fuel from Westinghouse that had been supplied to Ukraine’s Rivne nuclear power plant the previous September. More recently, in July this year Westinghouse and Energoatom agreed to jointly pursue the development of final fuel assembly capability in Ukraine. Alongside deployment of the AP1000, Westinghouse has
also signed an MoU related to deployment of its AP300 Small Modular Reactor (SMR) in Ukraine. In July Energoatom also signed agreements with Holtec that
confirms their intention to implement a manufacturing plant in Ukraine for the fabrication of small modular reactors (SMRs) and used fuel casks using Holtec technology. Other new build plants underway are Khmelnytskyi units
3&4 which feature VVER V-392B reactors. These plants are still incomplete after construction was stopped in 1990. In August Ukrainian Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk
said she plans to continue negotiations with Bulgaria on the purchase of Russian equipment for two VVER-1000 reactors manufactured for the Belene nuclear power plant expansion project. Kyiv now wants to use these units at Khmelnitskyi. The reactors, along with four steam generators and four
circulation pumps, have been at the Belene site for years after Bulgaria abandoned plans to build the project in favour of new units at Kozloduy.
Above: The Khmelnytskyi nuclear power is located near the town of Netishyn on the right bank of the Horyn River. It is to host new-build AP1000 units. Source: Energoatom
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