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U.S. based Westinghouse is ready to take part in building a plant to produce nuclear fuel, a statement posted on the website of the Kyiv International Energy Club Q-Club referring to U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor.

The U.S. company is ready to increase the volumes of its fuel delivered to Ukrainian NPPs, he said. Westinghouse is ready to expand the list of NPPs which it cooperates with and plans together with Energoatom to fine-tune the production of some elements of fuel assemblies in Ukraine, Taylor said.

The increase in the number of nuclear fuel suppliers, will promote falling prices for fuel assemblies, the ambassador said.

Ukraine plans to put into operation a nuclear fuel production plant in 2015. Deputy Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Natalia Shumkova said in late January 2009 that talks on the possibility to build such a plant are now underway with U.S. Westinghouse and Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL.

According to earlier reports, Energoatom has been testing Westinghouse produced nuclear fuel, which is in a reactor's active zone together with Russian units, at the South Ukraine NPP since 2005.

Westinghouse plans to give 42 fuel assemblies, which will be loaded in the reactor of the third energy unit of the South Ukraine NPP in 2009.

If the tests are successful, Energoatom intends to buy fuel for loading in three of Ukraine's energy units after 2010. TVEL is currently the only supplier of nuclear fuel to Ukraine.

Energoatom operates four of Ukraine's main NPPs: South Ukraine, Khmelnytsky, Rivne and Zaporizhia, with 15 energy units equipped with water energy reactors capable of producing 13,835 megawatts of power.