Two major US companies are getting a slice of Ukraine's vast atomic power market
Two major US companies are getting a slice of Ukraine’s vast atomic power market, offering a chance to reduce its dependency on Russia, currently its monopoly supplier of nuclear fuel.
On March 30, Westinghouse Electric Co. and Holtec International sealed contracts with Energoatom, the national nuclear power company, without disclosing details.
Westinghouse won a fiveyear contract to provide nuclear fuel supplies to three Ukrainian nuclear power plants starting in 2011, according to a company statement, and will fill about a quarter of Ukraine’s nuclear fuel needs.
“The efforts of these two internationally known companies will go a long way to assuring that Ukraine has greater energy independence,” said Morgan Williams, president of the USUkraine Business Council, referring to the deals as strategically important for both the US and Ukraine.
Currently, Ukraine gets 50 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, but it relies heavily on Russia’s TVEL nuclear fuel manufacturer for imports.
The contract “represents one of the largest energy supply diversification commitments in the history of Ukraine, greatly increasing the country’s overall energy security,” said Aris Candris, Westinghouse senior vice president.
Energoatom and New Jerseybased Holtec International signed an amendment to their 2005 contract for the certification, manufacturing and testing of the American company’s spent fuel management system called HISTORM 190 in Ukraine.
The deployment of HISTORM 190 in the country will store used fuel from the Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine nuclear power plants.
The Holtec project will help Ukraine reduce dependency on its Russian neighbor, to which it currently pays more than $100 million annually for accepting, processing and storing spent nuclear fuel.
“Holtec and Ukraine will together insure that Ukraine’s used fuel management is second to none in terms of the quality of technology and its inherent safety,” said Kris Singh, Holtec president and chief executive officer.
The signing of the contract on nuclear fuel supply is “a good sign since it involves the diversification of energy resources in the global dimension,” said Volodymyr Saprykin, director of energy programs at the Kyivbased Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies. “It is good to have two supply sources of nuclear fuel.”
A nuclear fuel supply contract between Energoatom and TVEL will expire in 2010, he added.
“Of course, Ukraine will continue its cooperation with TVEL and will buy fuel from it. However, the contract with Westinghouse will allow Ukraine to negotiate lower prices for nuclear fuel.”
According to market experts, TVEL has sharply raised prices for fuel supplied to Ukraine in recent years.
Saprykin emphasized that Ukraine’s cooperation with Westinghouse enables the country to improve its energy security.
“One needs to pay for security,” said Saprykin. “When a fullfledged market of nuclear fuel is created (in Ukraine), then prices for both American and Russian fuel can decrease.”
Referring to prices that Ukraine currently pays to Russia in terms of cooperation in the nuclear sphere, Saprykin said, “Every year prices for nuclear fuel and storage of spent nuclear fuel are increasing.”
Ukraine needs its own spent nuclear fuel storage facility, said Saprykin, adding that “additional jobs will be created for Ukrainian people who will be working at the storage facility.”
