Holtec International plans to arrange production of SMR equipment in Ukraine
MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) - The United States' Holtec International intends to establish capacities in Ukraine to train personnel, transfer necessary technology and produce and maintain equipment for small modular reactors (SMRs), Riaz Awan, Holtec International vice president overseeing the company's operations in Ukraine, told reporters on Kiev.
"SMRs are a path into the future. It is high technology. Ukraine has enormous potential as regards the groundwork for the construction and development of this type of nuclear power generation. There are not many countries in the world that have this number of specialists and such intellectual and production capacities," Ukrainian media quoted Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko as saying in a statement.
An agreement signed on April 21, 2023 by Ukraine's Energoatom and Holtec International on the construction of up to 20 SMR-160 reactors in Ukraine will contribute to the general decarbonization of the Ukrainian economy and to the country's energy independence drive, Galushchenko said.
"We have obligations that envisage giving up coal, and the best replacement for it is small modular reactors," he said.
Energoatom CEO Pyotr Kotin, for his part, said that the Ukrenergo power grid operator has already recommended the territory of 16 thermal power plants where SMRs could be installed.
"The capacity of this reactor (160 MWe) is sufficient to replacing coal-fired units with a capacity from 100 MWe to 300 MWe," Kotin said.
As reported, Ukraine and the U.S. announced at the 27th UN Climate Conference (COP27) in November 2022 that they were launching a pilot project to build a small modular reactor in Ukraine. Along with electricity generation using SMRs and advanced electrolysis technology, the parties also plan to produce clean hydrogen and clean ammonia in Ukraine.
Ukraine is cooperating with a large number of companies that develop SMR technology. In particular, Energoatom pursues SMR cooperation with the U.S.' Holtec International, Westinghouse and NuScale and with the UK's Rolls Royce.
SMR-160 is a light-water pressurized reactor with 160 MWe capacity, using low-enriched uranium fuel, with flexibility to produce process heat for industrial applications and hydrogen production.
Energoatom is the operator of all Ukrainian nuclear power plants.