U.S. nuclear power giant Westinghouse Electric Company said Tuesday it had signed a deal with Ukraine's National Nuclear Energy Generating Company or Energoatom that calls for a significant increase in fuel deliveries to the former Russian state through 2020.
The announcement prompted a response from Russia's Foreign Ministry that the use of U.S. fuels in a Ukrainian nuclear plant would compromise safety in the region. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that, “it might be in fact, that nuclear safety is sacrificed for the sake of political ambitions or, even more, other tangible interests,” the Itar-Tass news service reported.
The statement said that it appeared the Chernobyl tragedy of 1986 “did not teach Kiev authorities any lessons concerning a scientifically feasible approach to the use of nuclear energy.”
Westinghouse said when it announced the deal that “cooperation between Westinghouse and Energoatom will bring diversification and security of nuclear supplies for Ukraine's nuclear fleet.”
Security referring to energy supplies is a key concept here. Ukraine and Russia have had frequent spats involving critical natural gas supplies with Russia's Gazprom repeatedly cutting supplies to Ukraine's Naftogaz due to unpaid bills. The latest cut off began in June and it took until November for Ukraine to pay the first tranche of $1.5 billion with another $1.65 billion due before the end of the year.
Regarding safety, Westinghouse said, “U.S.-based Westinghouse has been working in the Ukrainian market since 2003 … Westinghouse fuel is currently operating safely and efficiently at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant without any defects in performance.”
Westinghouse is a single-source global nuclear fuel provider for pressurized water reactors (PWRs), including Russian-designed VVER reactors, as well as boiling water reactors (BWRs) and advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs). Westinghouse today provides nuclear fuel to 145 plants globally, 65 of which are in Europe, and has 10 nuclear fuel manufacturing locations around the world, including two sites in Europe: Springfields Fuels Limited in Preston, Lancashire, U.K. and Westinghouse Electric Sweden in Västerås.
The rhetoric from Russia about safety concerns is not new. With previous announcements of Westinghouse deals in Ukraine, accusations that the deals are politically motivated have been made.
Westinghouse and Energoatom signed a deal in April that continued a nuclear fuel supply arrangement through 2020. Media reports from April said Russia supplies Ukraine with $600 million worth of nuclear fuel each year, but the deal Westinghouse signed would put it in a position to provide Ukraine with 25 percent of its nuclear fuel “with an option to provide more if needed.”
The announcement released Tuesday did not divulge specific details on the value of the expanded contract.
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Hopefully Kiev learned from the Chrenobyl incident that Rosatom cannot be trusted to run a nuclear power plant safely.
