Ukraine's Energoatom, Urenco agree on enriched uranium supplies starting in 2026

MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) - Ukrainian nuclear power company Energoatom and Urenco Group have reached an agreement on long-term cooperation in the area of enriched uranium supplies for Ukrainian nuclear power plants starting in 2026, Ukrainian media reported, citing an Energoatom announcement on Telegram.

The agreement was reached during an online meeting between Energoatom president Pyotr Kotin and Urenco CEO Boris Schucht, Energoatom said.

They also discussed increasing enriched uranium supplies to Westinghouse for production of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian NPPs in 2024-2025.

It was reported in April that Energoatom was in talks with Urenco on possibly increasing uranium purchases.

Energoatom said in March that it would completely stop buying nuclear fuel produced by Russia. The company said it was confident it could reach an agreement with U.S. company Westinghouse on increasing production of fuel for Ukrainian NPPs if necessary.

Energoatom and Urenco signed a three-year contract for enriched uranium supplies in August 2016. The contract provided for annual guaranteed delivery of two shipments of enriched uranium, and an option for two additional deliveries per year.

Urenco Group, which specializes in enriching uranium using gas centrifuge technology, has enrichment facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company supplies fuel for nuclear power plants in 15 countries.