Russia repeatedly attacks the Ukrainian energy supply – but not nuclear facilities. Ukraine has now started building two new nuclear reactors in the west of the country. They should not be ready until 2028 at the earliest.
Ukraine has started building two more nuclear reactors. The Interfax-Ukraina news agency reported that the foundation stone for reactor units 5 and 6 of the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in the west of the country was laid in the presence of Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and the US Ambassador in Kiev, Bridget Brink.
The event is said to have taken place on Thursday, but has only now become known for security reasons.
The blocks are being built in collaboration with the US nuclear energy company Westinghouse Electric Company. These are pressurized water reactors with a service life of at least 60 years, according to the company. “This is a more modern and safer technology than the one we use now,” said the acting CEO of Ukrainian nuclear energy operator Enerhoatom, Petro Kotin. He praised this as a step towards a new, safe and reliable energy supply.
Construction time four to five years
The construction time for a reactor is estimated to be four to five years and the cost to be around five billion dollars. The new reactors do not represent a quick solution to Ukraine’s energy supply problems.
In contrast to other types of power plants, Russia has so far spared nuclear facilities from its drone and missile attacks – also out of the awareness that this could cause a nuclear catastrophe that is difficult to calculate in terms of its extent.
Most recently, Russia specifically targeted thermal and hydroelectric power plants with its missiles – the Ukrainian air defense system is overloaded due to the large number of attacks.