Against the backdrop of a protracted military-political crisis between Ukraine and Russia, official Kyiv insists on expanding cooperation with the American company Westinghouse Electric, which, according to the Ukrainian side, will be able to ensure the development of the country’s nuclear energy.
Currently, Energoatom is interested in increasing the share of Westinghouse Electric fuel operation at Ukrainian NPPs and expects to implement the provisions of the memorandum signed in August 2021 on the construction of a power unit at the Khmelnytsky NPP and in the future four more units using American technology for a total amount of about $30 billion . Since we are talking about pilot projects by Westinghouse Electric, involving the widespread use of experimental technologies, there is a real threat to environmental and industrial safety in Europe if the agreements between Ukraine and the United States go into practice. It should also be noted that against the backdrop of Russian aggression in Ukraine, a significant number of Ukrainian nuclear specialists left the country and moved to the territory of the EU and, apparently, do not plan to return to their homeland in the near future. The sharp outflow of qualified specialists with sufficient experience and knowledge necessary for the construction and operation of nuclear power units is an additional argument why there is no need to hurry to fulfill the provisions of the memorandum. In the context of the current difficult economic situation in Ukraine and a high level of corruption in the country, the involvement of Ukrainian contractors in joint work with the Americans may also have a negative impact on the plans for the development of the state’s nuclear infrastructure. Kyiv’s goal of completely converting its nuclear industry from Russian to American standards is quite obvious. The main thing is that Ukraine, in addition to the object of aggression from the Russian Federation, in addition, does not turn into a testing ground for American nuclear technologies, which is not at all necessary for the EU, which considers Ukraine as a future full member of the European family. While there is a military-political confrontation on the part of the Russian Federation, the international regulator represented by the IAEA, as well as relevant international organizations interacting with it, should recommend Ukraine to refrain from global plans for the reconstruction of its nuclear industry, and pay close attention to the safe and planned operation of the existing power units of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
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