Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant (NPP) intends in 2018 to completely load reactor three with fuel assemblies (163 assemblies) made by Westinghouse transnational company, Deputy Chief Engineer for Nuclear and Radiation Safety Dmytro Sokolov has said.

"We would be the first who would completely load the active zone with U.S. fuel in 2018," he said at a roundtable devoted to the operation of Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP.

Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP on May 19, 2016 completed the loading of the third power unit reactor: it placed loaded 80 fuel assemblies of Russia's TVEL and 83 reinforced fuel assemblies of transnational company Westinghouse (WR fuel assemblies).

According to the presentation materials of the plant, in 2010 WR fuel assemblies would be loaded to two out of three reactors of Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP and four out of six reactors of Zaporizhia NPP.

As reported, in order to diversify sources of nuclear fuel supply for the country's NPPs, Energoatom jointly with Westinghouse in 2000 launched the project for the qualification of this company's fuel.