On September 10, 2023, Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator, announced it had a successfully refuelled a reactor at its Rivne Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) using Western-produced nuclear fuel assemblies, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
All of Ukraine’s NPPs have reactors based on Soviet designs and until February 2022 it relied on russia for nuclear fuel. Since russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has accelerated plans to diversify its supply.
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With nuclear energy supplying approximately half of Ukraine’s electricity, Energoatom’s success in sourcing and installing Western fuel is a major waypoint in Ukraine’s long-term decoupling from russia, whose influence over Ukraine’s energy supply is severely diminished.
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