Preparations for the construction of two power units based on U.S. company Westinghouse’s AR1000 technology are underway at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, according to the plant’s Nov. 13 statement.
The South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, the second largest of the country’s five nuclear power stations, is located near the city of Pivdennoukrainsk in Mykolaiv Oblast.
Ukraine relies on nuclear power for more than half of its energy production, which is increasingly in demand amid Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The nuclear power plant currently has three operating power units with a total capacity of 3,000 megawatts (MW).
Geological studies were conducted to construct the new power units, and a construction site was selected, the statement read.
Ukraine is also preparing to resume the construction of the previously abandoned Chyhyryn plant in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator said on Aug. 27. According to Energoatom, the plant will also be equipped with AP1000 reactors built by the U.S. company Westinghouse.
The members of the Chyhyryn City Council voted to permit Energoatom to resume the plant’s construction. “The first steps have been taken,” said Energoatom.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Its position near the front line has led to heightened nuclear safety risks throughout Russia’s full-scale war.
Ukraine’s National Resistance Center reported on Sept. 15 that Russian forces continued to use the territory of the occupied power plant to deploy military personnel and store ammunition and explosives.
Dominic Culverwell