KIEV (Sputnik) — Kiev will continue reducing nuclear fuel procurement for its power plants from Russia, switching to other suppliers like the US Westinghouse Electric Company, President Petro Poroshenko said Thursday.
"How many percent of nuclear fuel did we get [from Russia] three years ago, when I was elected president? One hundred percent. How much did we get in 2016? Already 55 percent. How big is the goal for the amount received that I set by 2017? It will be 45 percent. We’ll get the rest from our other partners, including the American Westinghouse," Poroshenko said during a visit to the Tripolskaya thermal power plant near Kiev.
The bulk of the nuclear fuel for Ukraine’s power plants comes from the Russian TVEL, a subsidiary of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation. However, according to the Ukrainian government’s draft energy strategy, deliveries from a single provider would not be allowed to exceed 70 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2025.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control had expressed doubt that the Ukrainian nuclear plants would operate on non-Russian fuel without difficulties. Some energy experts also claimed that switching to US fuel carries risks of accidents for the Russian-built Ukrainian plants.
Westinghouse says that its inspections in Ukraine had not revealed any flaws in operation of its fuel.
