Upon the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world after the Russian Federation and the United States. In addition to 130 SS-19 and 46 SS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and 25 Tu-95 and 19 Tu-160 strategic bombers with air-launched cruise missiles and an estimated 1,900 strategic warheads, Ukraine’s arsenal contained around 2,275 tactical nuclear weapons located on its territory.

Domestic opposition notwithstanding, Ukraine swiftly moved towards denuclearization, as articulated in the January 1994 Trilateral Statement [PDF]. It joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon state in 1994, acceded to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), and became nuclear-weapons-free in 1996 upon transferring all of its nuclear warheads to Russia for elimination. Dismantlement and destruction of Ukraine’s weapons and delivery systems was made possible by funding from the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program (the CTR Umbrella Agreement for Ukraine was signed in 1993 and extended in 1999) and compensation, provided by the Russian Federation in the form of fuel for Ukraine’s nuclear power reactors. By January 2002, all strategic bombers on Ukrainian territory had been dismantled, transferred to Russia, or converted to non-military use, all ICBMs had been eliminated or disassembled pending elimination, and all ICBM silos had been destroyed (see Ukraine's missile dismantlement chronology for more information).

Following accession to the NPT, Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded a nuclear safeguards agreement in 1995. The state has been a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group since 1996. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 2000 and the Additional Protocol in 2005.

Click here for additional information on Ukraine's nuclear reductions under the START Treaty, and related nuclear weapons treaty commitments.

Sarcophagus at Chornobyl.

Ukraine 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.

Ukraine continues to rely heavily on the Russian Federation for enriched fuel 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. Discussions regarding the participation of Ukraine's Nuclear Fuel of Ukraine concern in Russia's International Uranium Enrichment Center project in Angarsk, Russia, are ongoing.

Click here for additional information on Ukraine's Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments.

	Updated December 2008