War in Ukraine: the Minister of Energy announces the construction of four nuclear reactors this summer

this Thursday.

Building soon

Two of these reactors will be based on Soviet-designed equipment that Ukraine wishes to import from Bulgaria, the other two will use technology from the American company Westinghouse . The four units will be located at the Khmelnytskyi power plant, in western Ukraine, added German Galushchenko.

The project was known but the timetable revealed by the minister is more precise than previously, Kiev having so far mentioned starting the project during the year 2024, without say 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 will have to be imported. "We want to make the third and fourth units right away", he said.

Construction of the third and fourth reactors at the Khmelnytskyi site began in the 1980s before being suspended.

Discussions with Sofia

Since its independence in 1991, Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, has built three new nuclear reactors, at the Zaporizhia, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne power plants.

Currently, three nuclear power plants located in Ukrainian-controlled territory produce more than 55% of the country's electricity needs, but Kiev wants to expand its capacities after losing control of Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, initially of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The Zaporizhia complex is controlled by Russia and its six reactors are shut down.

"With the third and fourth (Khmelnytskyi units) we want to compensate (the loss of) Zaporizhia and today we are in discussions with our Bulgarian partners regarding the two reactors that we want to take", said the Ukrainian Minister of 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 two reactors number 3 and 4 VVER-1000 of Soviet design, Ukraine intends to begin preparatory work for two units – the 5th and 6th – of Western AP design -1000, also on the Khmelnytskyi site.

"We need to pass the legislation and we have bills for units 3, 4, 5 and 6", said German Galushchenko. Last December, the Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom signed an agreement with Westinghouse on the purchase of equipment for a future unit number 5 in Khmelnytskyi.