The claim that Ukraine plans to produce fresh nuclear fuel within three years and would be happy to supply Russian-type nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Bulgaria in addition to its own needs has no realistic and professional basis. This view was expressed by energy engineer Zsolt Harfash, nuclear energy expert, author of the blog atombiztos.blogstar.hu.
“It is not surprising that Ukraine intends to realize this project with the participation of Westinghouse, which is considered American only by name, but is actually now owned by two Canadian companies,” said the expert.
He stressed that the American company Westinghouse had previously tried to put American fuel into Russian-type reactors in Ukraine, Finland and the Czech Republic, but a number of technical problems arose during the operation and jeopardized safe operation.
“Due to unsuitable thermal parameters and unsuitable material composition, the fuel assemblies were deformed, bent during operation and damaged during reloading, compromising nuclear safety,” said Zsolt Harfasz.
He recalled that the Czech politician, who previously briefly served as Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek, said that US officials had been lobbying for Westinghouse’s interests for years.
“The fuel elements supplied by Westinghouse were of lower quality and higher in price compared to Russian fuel,” added the expert.
Harfash emphasized that it takes at least seven years for a nuclear power plant operator to switch from another manufacturer to a new nuclear fuel.
According to him, by all indications, Ukraine is trying to politically exclude the world’s leading nuclear company Rosatom from the market for the production of fresh nuclear fuel and the construction of new nuclear power plants.
The expert believes that the EU should continue to insist resolutely on the priority of nuclear safety as a fundamental interest of all Europeans.
“We cannot allow experiments to be carried out on fresh Ukrainian-American nuclear fuel and Russian-type reactors in EU member states based solely on political decisions without appropriate tests and licenses,” said Harfash.