Rolls-Royce reported to be in talks to build a fleet of small modular reactors
Ukraine has signed an agreement to buy equipment from US reactor company Westinghouse for construction of the planned Khmelnitski-5 AP1000 nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine.
The agreement was signed by Westinghouse chief executive offer Patrick Fragman, Ukraine’s energy minister Herman Halushchenko and state nuclear operator Energoatom’s president Petro Kotin.
Further collaboration was also discussed, with Energoatom planning for a total of nine Westinghouse AP1000 reactors and Westinghouse-supplied fuel for its existing VVER reactors.
The country is also exploring the potential deployment of small modular reactors, possibly using Westinghouse’s AP300 reactor technology.
Haluschchenko said the agreement was part of the country’s efforts to move away from Russian technology in its nuclear energy industry, noting “this is important for strengthening the energy security of Ukraine and renewing our nuclear power industry, which was, is and will be the key generation in Ukraine”.
The news was announced as reports in the UK said Rolls-Royce is in talks with Ukraine’s biggest private power company to build a fleet of small modular reactors in the country.
The Telegraph newspaper said DTEK, which is part of billionaire businessman Rinat Akhmetov’s industrial group, has held early discussions with Rolls about developing SMRs at sites currently operated by coal power stations.
Maxim Timchenko, the company’s chief executive, said he expects nuclear power to form an important part of DTEK’s future portfolio as Ukraine is rebuilt and his country switches away from fossil fuels.
In August 2021 Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum on the construction of five power units in Ukraine using AP1000 technology.
In June 2022 they signed further agreements related to increasing the number of units to be built in Ukraine using AP1000 technology from five to nine, although not all would be at Khmelnitski.
There are two operational VVER plants at Khmelnitski – Khmelnitski-1 and -2 – which began commercial operation in 1998 and 2005. Two more units, Khmelnitski-3 and -4, remain under construction, but both units were to be supplied by Russia.
Ukraine has 15 nuclear units generating about half of its electricity, including the six at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which has been under Russian military control since March 2022.
The Khmelnitski nuclear power station site in northern Ukraine. Courtesy Energoatom.
