SPECIAL REPORT | ZAPORIZHIA
Zaporizhia: Two years of captivity
As the conflict in Ukraine crosses into its third year what lessons can be learned, from the occupation of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and how can plans for the future be built and realised?
By Olexiy Kovynyev
DESPITE THE ABNORMAL SITUATION THE power system of Ukraine is balanced and is currently able to meet demand. Domestic generation is generally sufficient to cover the needs of consumers, although electricity is being imported from time to time. Despite the absence of the six-unit Zaporizhia nuclear power plant from the Ukrainian grid, broadly, there are no shortages of electricity. As a result, power outage schedules do not currently apply in contrast to the previous winter. However, the Ministry of Energy has called for the economical use of electricity during peak hours.
Nonetheless, the war continues, so disconnection of power lines due to shelling, followed by prompt restoration and subsequent energisation have become the norm for Ukraine. There are 15 nuclear power units at four nuclear power plants in the country – operated by the state nuclear utility Energoatom. The Zaporizhia nuclear plant (6 x 1000 MWe) is currently shut down. There are a further nine nuclear units in operation at the South Ukraine plant (3 x 1000 MWe), Khmelnytski plant (2 x 1000 MWe) and Rivne plant (2 x 1000 MWe and 2 x 440 MWe) with a total nominal capacity of 7880 MWe.
In 2023, Ukrainian nuclear power plants generated
52 TWh of electricity. This is about 50% of the total electricity production in Ukraine. For comparison, the same ratio – though not the same amount – was achieved before the war with the addition of the operating Zaporizhia nuclear plant. All the operating units have undergone outages and refuelling cycles over the recent months. In addition to Russian nuclear fuel, Ukraine had been
using Westinghouse fuel for many years at its VVER-1000 units. Due to specific design characteristics, the fuel for two VVER-440 units at the Rivne plant was supplied only by the Russian TVEL company. After the beginning of the war, Energoatom announced a complete refusal of any further fuel supplies from Russia and recently the company announced that Westinghouse fuel was being loaded into the VVER-440 Unit 2 reactor of Rivne. It is also planned for this fuel to be loaded into the second VVER-440 unit at the plant. This strategy opens up a new opportunity for VVER-440 reactors in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and possibly in Hungary too. Earlier in 2023 Energoatom began to transport its spent
fuel from the three operating plants to the centralised dry spent fuel storage build not far from the Chornobyl
Above: The Zaporizhia nuclear power station was captured by Russian troops on 4 March, 2022 22 | March 2024 |
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