UK says Western nuclear fuel delivery to Ukraine accelerates disengagement from Russia

MADRID, 14 (EUROPA PRESS)

Thus, they have recalled that the Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom announced on September 10 that it had successfully introduced fuel into a reactor of the plant in Rivni using nuclear fuel of Western manufacture, according to a statement from the British Ministry of Defense through its account on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.

"All of Ukraine's nuclear power plants have reactors based on Soviet designs and until February 2022 were reliant on Russia for nuclear fuel," they said, before stressing that "since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has accelerated its plans to diversify its supplies."

"Given that nuclear power supplies about half of Ukraine's electricity, Energoatom's success in receiving and installing Western fuel is a huge starting point for long-term disengagement from Russia, whose influence over Ukraine's energy supply has been severely reduced," they concluded.

Energoatom recently announced that "on September 10, 2023, a historic event took place at the Rivne nuclear power plant with the installation of Westinghouse fuel in reactor units with a capacity of 440 megawatts." "Previously, reactors of this type operated only with Russian-made nuclear fuel," he specified.

During the ceremony, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko stressed that "the greatness of this day is the end of the Russian monopoly on this segment of the nuclear fuel market." "I really hope that this day will pave the way for swift sanctions against the Russians in the nuclear power industry," he remarked.