An agreement announced on 22 November by US company Westinghouse and Ukraine’s state nuclear power company Energoatom is the first step in a plan for the construction of five new nuclear power units, Energoatom acting president Petro Kotin told a conference.

According to Mr Kotin, the agreement includes two new Westinghouse-made AP1000 nuclear reactor units by 2029 at the existing Khmelnitski site. The move means Unit 4 will be completed and a new Unit 5 will be built using AP1000 technology.

Westinghouse said the agreement – for the first Westinghouse AP1000s in Ukraine – initiates engineering and procurement of long-lead items for the first Westinghouse AP1000 unit at the Khmelnitski site.

Mr Kotin said Ukraine's new-build plans also include three other AP1000 units, one at each of three existing sites – Rovno, South Ukraine and Zaporozhye – all by 2045.