Westinghouse and Energoatom, A Week Full Of Achievements

A week rich in milestones and agreements for Westinghouse Electric Company (ENS Corporate Member) and Ukraine’s state operator Energoatom.

On 11 September 2023, for the first time, Westinghouse fuel was loaded into a VVER-440 reactor at the Rivne nuclear power plant.

The supply of fuel assemblies for the VVER-440 reactors, produced at the Westinghouse fuel fabrication facility in Västerås (Sweden), was the result of a contract signed in September 2020 as part of Ukraine’s efforts to diversify its fuel supplies.

Rivne-1 and -2 are the two only VVER-440 reactors in Ukraine. The remaining 13 have all VVER-1000 technology, for which Westinghouse has been supplying fuel since 2005 when the first lead test assemblies were delivered to unit 3 of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant.

Westinghouse, such as other ENS Corporate Members like Framatome, Urenco and ENUSA, is actively playing a key role in the diversification of nuclear fuel supply in several Eastern European countries. Alongside the cooperation with ENUSA on VVER-440 nuclear fuel fabrication, Westinghouse signed other supply agreements, e.g. with Slovakia, Bulgaria and Finland.

Furthermore, a consortium led by Westinghouse was selected by the European Union to develop and deliver a secure nuclear fuel supply to Russian-designed pressurized water reactors VVER, operating in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.

The APIS project (Accelerated Program for Implementation of Secure VVER fuel Supply) is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation, with a contribution of €10 million from the Euratom Work Programme 2023-2025.

Read the full Westinghouse Press Release.

The same day, Westinghouse and Energoatom signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development and deployment of the AP30 Small Modular Reactor (SMR).

The agreement establishes a joint working group to collaborate on areas such as contracting, licensing and the local supply chain.

Nuclear energy plays a key role in Kyiv’s energy strategy until 2050. Indeed, Ukraine is pursuing the carbon neutrality of its energy sector by 2050 by planning the increase of nuclear generation and the development of both large-scale reactors and advanced SMR plants.

Last May, Westinghouse unveiled its AP300 SMR, a 300-MWe single-loop pressurized water reactor. It will utilise identical AP1000 technology, to include major equipment, structural components, passive safety, proven fuel, and I&C systems.

Moreover, like the AP1000, the AP300 is designed to operate for an 80+ year life cycle.

Read the full Press Release.