The Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Ministry hope to settle their dispute with Westinghouse over damaged fuel assemblies through negotiation, Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky told the press on June 18.
“There is a problem, but we will resolve it through negotiations… I think we will reach an agreement,” he said.
As reported, Kyiv-based National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom is preparing a claim against transnational company Westinghouse regarding damaged fuel assemblies supplied by the company.
Stavytsky reckons Energoatom needs to carefully look into this issue and bring its proposals to the Energy Ministry after which the ministry will go to the government about this.
In spring 2012 during the scheduled repair at Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant (NPP) it was established that the Westinghouse fuel assemblies were mechanically damaged, and they cannot be used anymore. Defects in their structure were declared the reason for the damage to the fuel assemblies.
The State Finance Inspectorate of Ukraine said that the losses of Energoatom from damage to fuel assemblies made by Westinghouse are assessed at UAH 114 million.
The key supplier of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs) is Russia’s TVEL. Ukraine continues cooperating with U.S. Westinghouse Electric Company under a contract on commercial supplies of nuclear fuel in 2011-2015.
Energoatom operates all four of the nuclear power stations in Ukraine, with fifteen generating units outfitted with water-cooled fast-breeder reactors with an installed generating capacity of 13.835 gigawatts.
