Ukrainian nuclear fuel: what are the plans, and is the production safe?

What is the problem?

Russia seeks the opportunity to influence the politics of other countries with the help of energy pressure: through the supply of natural gas and nuclear technologies. Currently, the latter is used in several European countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, Spain, and Bulgaria. According to a study by the Norwegian Institute of International Relations, which Nature Energy writes about, even after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, 73 Rosatom projects continue to be implemented in 29 countries.

After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, some Rosatom projects in European countries were curtailed. However, several countries on the continent continue to cooperate with the Russian corporation, and some have a high degree of dependence on it. The corporation builds reactors, conducts personnel training, maintains nuclear power plant power units, and supplies fuel, to which, apart from Russian, there are still no alternatives for some types of reactors.

According to the statement of the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, Herman Galushchenko, 17 VVER-440 units are operating in Europe today, which do not yet have an alternative to Russian fuel. Ukraine will now produce such fuel with the prospect of exporting to European countries.

Learn in Rubryka's material whether this is true and whether such production is safe for the environment.

What is the solution?

Ukraine's cooperation with the American company Westinghouse Electric, which is engaged in implementing nuclear technologies, began long before the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine. Back in September 2020, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum on the supply of nuclear fuel for the VVER-440 reactors for the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant and, at the same time, agreed on the intention to manufacture fuel assembly components in Ukraine.

Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine purchased nuclear fuel, namely heat-separating assemblies containing uranium compounds, from only two suppliers: Westinghouse Electric and the Russian TVEL. Since March 2022, Energoatom has abandoned purchasing Russian fuel. Herman Galushchenko recently confirmed that Ukraine had transferred all nuclear power units to Westinghouse nuclear fuel. He also noted that the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, and Bulgaria have also expressed their desire to make such a transition. In the future, Ukraine will be able to become a supplier of nuclear fuel for these countries.

This could become a reality thanks to another joint partnership between nuclear companies. According to the company's president, Petro Kotin, in three years, Energoatom, in collaboration with Westinghouse, plans to create its own nuclear fuel production line for VVER-440 units. In Ukraine, there are two such nuclear reactors at the Rivne NPP, and in Europe, there are 17 of them — in Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Finland. None of them have an alternative to Russian nuclear fuel so far.

Another area of cooperation between Energoatom and Westinghouse is the production of component parts of fuel units for reactors of the VVER-1000 type, and according to Halushchenko, it has already begun. VVER-1000 is the second type of more powerful power unit available in Ukraine, of which there are 13. They are used at all four Ukrainian NPPs, in Europe — only at the Czech Temelin NPP.

The necessary equipment for the production of component parts of power units was already installed on the eve of a full-scale war at the separate branch of Energoatom — Atomenergomash. As the Minister of Energy of Ukraine now declares, in 2023, it is planned to complete the licensing and enter the industrial production of shanks, and in 2024 — the industrial production of heads for fuel cartridges.

These are elements of the fuel assembly — the final product used as fuel for nuclear power plants. These elements do not contain nuclear compounds. The specified components will be used at the Westinghouse enterprise in the city of Västerös in Sweden to produce fuel assemblies for Energoatom.

In addition, Westinghouse signed an agreement with Energoatom on constructing nine new power units using the AR1000 technology in Ukraine. Energoatom has already started implementing the project for the construction of the 5th and 6th units at the Khmelnytskyi NPP, which should be completed by 2029. Poland plans to build three such reactors in Hocevo near the Baltic Sea, and they are also in the USA, China, and Turkey. Not all projects were successful: power units were supposed to appear in India and Great Britain, but due to the company's bankruptcy in 2017, these projects were suspended, as well as several others in the USA and China.

On March 20, the president of Energoatom, Petro Kotin, and the president and executive director of the Canadian company Cameco Tim Hitzel signed agreements on using Ukrainian uranium in the production of nuclear fuel for all Ukrainian nuclear power plants. This is not the first successful experience of cooperation between companies. In 2019 and 2021, Cameco supplied uranium oxide concentrate for the production of nuclear fuel for the needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

Cameco is a Canadian company that will take over Westinghouse, according to the announcements made in October 2022. At the time, Cameco said it would buy nuclear power equipment maker Westinghouse Electric in a deal worth $7.9 billion, including the company's debt.

According to the agreements, during 2024-2035, Energoatom will be fully supplied with natural uranium hexafluoride, which will be supplied for enrichment and further use in producing nuclear fuel. It is also planned to sell uranium mined at the Ukrainian Eastern Mining and Processing Plant to Canada.

Therefore, nuclear fuel will not be produced on the territory of Ukraine — only components of fuel elements, but uranium production will increase.

To extract 1 gram of uranium, you need to grind a ton of granite or other hard rock, treat it with strong acids and alkalis, and then bury and properly dispose of the hazardous waste materials. To process one ton of uranium ore, up to 4–5 cubic meters of recycled water from sedimentation ponds are used in a closed cycle. Due to the high content of chemical and radioactive substances, such waters can pollute soils, surface, and underground waters and therefore require constant monitoring and implementation of measures to reduce the harmful impact on the environment.

Uranium is already mined in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, and Mykolaiv regions. The main sources of environmental pollution there are mine rock dumps, water from mines, and liquid and gaseous radioactive waste.

Among other wastes of uranium ore processing are the so-called tails — substances that remain insoluble. They require special handling and are usually stored in tails storage. The tail storage covers 542 hectares of territory in the above-mentioned regions and contains 65.5 million tons of radioactive waste.

The company that will extract uranium in the framework of cooperation with Cameco, Ukrainian Eastern Mining and Processing Plant, provides storage and monitors the environmental situation near the tailings storage facilities, as well as other radiation-hazardous and chemical facilities of the enterprises, in particular the mines of Ingulsk, Smolinsk, Novokostyantinivsk, hydrometallurgical plant, and others.

However, the element of uncontrolled storage of waste from uranium production, unfortunately, already exists in Ukraine. Thus, a significant amount of waste was accumulated during the period of activity of the Prydniprovsk Chemical Plant, where 65% of the uranium ores of the entire Soviet Union were processed during the years 1946–1972. During 1948–1991, 9 tailings storage facilities were created, which stored about 42 million tons of waste.

Control the process

To reduce the impact of uranium mining on the environment, there must always be appropriate control on the ground and additional security measures. In particular, in 2019, dams were strengthened, and beaches were covered for this purpose in the Kirovohrad region. In this way, dust-like particles were prevented from being dispersed on the tailings storage in the Shcherbakivska Creek.

In addition, Ukrainians can now monitor the level of radiation pollution themselves. Public monitoring of radiation safety became a reality in the summer of 2022 when relevant stations began to appear in the EcoCity app. So far, such stations are not everywhere, but only in places that have a greater risk of radiation threat, but if you live in the area of the uranium mining basin, for example, in the Dnipro and Kirovohrad regions, where Ukrainian Eastern Mining and Processing Plant develops deposits, you can order such a station, install it even in your own yard and add it to the general EcoCity network.

Another tool of public influence on harmful enterprises' activities is noted in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure. The Ministry of Environment carries out the EIA procedure at enterprises to determine the degree of potential consequences of their activities on the state of the environment and the population's health. It also holds public discussions on the topic. Notice of holding such discussions is usually posted on the company's website, and it is an opportunity for community residents to get answers to their questions. The discussion does not provide an opportunity to impose a veto on the project but provides for the authorized body's responsible processing of all comments.