French company has embarked on expansion to meet growing demand
French nuclear fuel cycle company Orano and Energoatom, the Ukrainian national nuclear operator, have signed a major long-term commercial agreement for the supply of enrichment services through to 2040.
The contract guarantees Energoatom a reliable and diversified supply of enrichment services to provide fuel for the Ukrainian nuclear power generation fleet, Orano said in a statement.
The contract was signed by Nicolas Maes, chief executive officer of Orano, and Petro Kotin, acting chief executive officer of Energoatom, during a ceremony in Vienna, Austria, the presence of chairman of Energoatom’s supervisory board Jarek Niewierowicz.
Kotin said Energoatom is continuing to strengthen Ukraine’s energy security and uranium enrichment is one of the important stages in the process of nuclear fuel production. The agreement allows Ukraine to plan a stable, bright future, relying on the operation of nuclear power plants, Kotin said, adding that “given Ukraine’s plans to expand nuclear capacity, Energoatom’s need for uranium enrichment services will only grow in the future”.
Orano said that to meet growing demand from its customers, in 2023, it embarked on a major project to extend the production capacity of its Georges Besse 2 uranium enrichment plant in France by 30%.
“This development will raise the maximum annual capacity of the plant to 11 million SWUs* between now and the start of the next decade, thus consolidating Orano's position as a key player in the global supply of enrichment services,” the company said.
Ukraine has a fleet of 15 commercial nuclear plants although six, at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, are in cold shutdown.
Energoatom is planning to complete Units 3 and 4 at the Khmelnitski nuclear power station, about 300 km west of the capital Kyiv in western Ulraine. Both are Russia-designed VVER-1000 pressurised water reactor units, construction of which is suspended.
The plan is to buy reactor equipment that was produced by Russia for the abandoned Belene nuclear power station project in Bulgaria.
Three years of Russian strikes on its power grid have left Ukraine reliant on nuclear power for more than half of its electricity generation. That nuclear power is generated by three functioning stations – Khmelnitski, Rivne and South Ukraine.
* The separative work unit (SWU) is the unit of measure used as the international standard to quantify production from enrichment activity.
