Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko announced on Thursday, January 25, 2024, the construction of four new nuclear reactors this summer.
Ukraine plans to start building four new nuclear reactors this summer or fall to make up for losses in energy capacity due to the war against Russia, Ukrainian Energy Minister German told Portal on Thursday. Galushchenko.
Upcoming construction work
Two of these reactors will be based on Soviet equipment that Ukraine plans to import from Bulgaria, while the other two will use technology from the American company Westinghouse. The four units will be built at the Khmelnytskyi power plant in western Ukraine, German Galushchenko added.
The project was known, but the schedule announced by the minister is more precise than before. Kiev had previously mentioned starting the project in 2024, without saying that the four reactors could be developed simultaneously.
“I think we will start construction in the summer or fall,” German Galushchenko said in an interview. “We need tanks,” he added, referring to the pressure equipment that needs to be imported. “We want to create the third and fourth units straight away,” he said.
Construction of the third and fourth reactors at the Khmelnytskyi site began in the 1980s before being discontinued.
Conversations with Sofia
Since gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, has built three new nuclear reactors: the Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne power plants.
Currently, three nuclear power plants in Ukrainian-controlled territory meet more than 55% of the country's electricity needs, but Kiev wants to expand its capacity after losing control of Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, at the start of the Russian invasion February 2022. The Zaporizhzhia complex is controlled by Russia and its six reactors are shut down.
“With the third and fourth (Khmelnytskyi units) we want to compensate for (the loss of) Zaporizhzhia and today we are in talks with our Bulgarian partners about the two reactors we want to take over,” the Ukrainian defense minister said. “Energy.” . “If we received the tanks today, I think we would have a third reactor connected to the network within two and a half years,” he said.
In parallel with the construction of the two VVER-1000 reactors No. 3 and 4 of Soviet design, Ukraine intends to begin preparatory work for two units – the 5th and 6th – AP-1000 of Western design, also at the Khmelnytskyi site.
“We need to pass the law and we have draft laws for blocks 3, 4, 5 and 6,” German Galushchenko said. Last December, Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom signed an agreement with Westinghouse to purchase equipment for the future Unit Number 5 in Khmelnytskyy.