I blogged recently (Ukraine Cancelling Contract With Russia for Completion of Two Nuclear Power Reactors ) about Ukraine cancelling contracts with Russia for completion of nuclear reactors three and four at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant. The proposal for parliament to officially cancel the contracts came on July 8, 2015. The possibility of cancelling a nuclear fuel production facility being constructed at Smolino was also mentioned.
Rosatom, the Russian nuclear construction firm that had been contracted by Ukraine, announced on July 9, 2015 that they were surprised by the recent series of articles in the Ukrainian media about the status and future of the construction projects. It said that Ukraine had not formally informed Russia that it wanted to cancel them.
Construction of the third reactor for Khmelnitsky was started in 1985 and the fourth reactor was started in 1986. When construction of both was stopped in 1990, the third reactor was seventy five percent complete and the fourth reactor was twenty eight percent complete. In 2010, Russia and Ukraine signed an intergovernmental agreement to restart construction of the two partially completed reactors. In late 2010, Russia's Sberbank indicated that it was willing to provide a loan of a billion dollars to Energoatom, the Ukrainian utility that operates the Khmelnitsky power plant. Ukraine was supposed to provide fifteen percent of the cost of the project.
In early 2011, Energoatom and ASE signed a formal contract for the completion of the third and fourth reactors at Khmelnitsky. The contract called for the third reactor to be completed in 2016 and the fourth reactor to be completed in 2017. However, two months later, Energoatom complained that it was not satisfied with the interest rate that the Sberbank wanted to charge on the loan.
In July of 2014, Ukraine's Cabinet stated that it had decided that Ukraine should build new nuclear power reactors based on "Western design" as opposed to the Russian design of the partially completed third and fourth reactors at Khmelnitsky. In August of 2014, Energoatom said that Ukraine would not cooperate with Russia on the completion of the two reactors under construction. A few days later a contract was signed with the Czech firm Skoda JS for the construction of brand new reactors at Khmelnitsky. Further announcements followed with respect to closer cooperation with European companies for the sale of electricity from new reactors and the purchase of fuel for the reactors from non-Russian suppliers.
Westinghouse and TVEL, a Rosatom subsidiary, both bid on construction of a nuclear fuel plant in 2010 and TVEL won the bid. The nuclear fuel plant construction was started in 2012 with a projected completion date of 2014. It was supposed to start supply fuel to all the nuclear power plants in the Ukraine by 2016 and sell any extra fuel assemblies to the European market under arrangements with TVEL. In 2013, TVEL transferred forty two million dollars into Nuclear Fuel Plant, its joint venture with Ukraine's Nuclear Fuel State Concern, and is waiting for Ukraine to provide an equal amount to the project.
TVEL has already manufactured components for the Ukrainian fuel facility at its own expense but has been unable to deliver them because Ukraine has failed to pay for them. TVEL has also signed an agreement for the production of nuclear fuel for Ukraine but Ukrainian authorities have not yet signed it. Rosatom has repeated stated that TVEL has fulfilled all of its obligations with respect to the fuel plant. Construction on the fuel plant was halted in 2014 because of contract disputes. Rosatom stated that it is ready to move forward with the construction of the nuclear fuel plant and the two reactors for the Khmelnitsky power plant.
In March of 2014, Energoatom announced that it was going to be working with Westinghouse to obtain nuclear fuel and possibly completion of the construction of the fuel plant.
Smolino Nuclear Fuel Plant:
