
Ukraine's Energoatom currently operates 15 reactors at four nuclear power plants-- Khmelnitskyy, Rivne, Konstyantynivka, and Zaporizhzhya. The last operating reactors at Chornobyl were shut down in December 2000. After a decade-long search for funding, the government finally commissioned Khmelnitsky-2 and Rivne-4 reactors in 2004. As of 2007, Ukraine’s nuclear power plants generate nearly half of its electricity needs, and the “Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2030,” released in 2006, foresees construction of 11 new nuclear units in order to maintain the share of nuclear electricity at the present level. While Ukraine does maintain uranium mining operations, it continues to rely heavily on the Russian Federation for enrichment and reprocessing of nuclear waste. In its quest for energy independence from Russia, Ukraine has concluded a deal for a pilot fuel supply project with Westinghouse as well as discussed participation in the International Uranium Enrichment Center project in Angarsk, Russia.
In addition to the power reactors, Ukraine also has four nuclear research institutes, two of which (the Kiev Institute for Nuclear Research and the Sevastopol Institute of Nuclear Energy and Industry) operate research reactors and/or critical assemblies. A third institute (the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology) has weapons grade materials stored on its premises. The fourth institute (the Chornobyl Center on Problems of Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste, and Radioecology) is dedicated solely to addressing the aftermath of the Chornobyl NPP explosion.
Click on the links for additional information on Ukraine's Uranium Mining and Milling , Power Reactors , Research Facilities, Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste/Developments , and Fuel Cycle Developments .
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Updated September 2007 |
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