The annual check of transnational company Westinghouse's fuel assemblies was conducted from February 15 to March 1, 2015 at reactor three of Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant (NPP), the press service of the National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom has reported.

The press service said that the check was conducted as a part of the Westinghouse fuel assembly test program at Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP. The fuel was checked with the participation of representatives of Westinghouse, Atomremontservice and the NPP.

"Six Westinghouse fuel assemblies, which were selected under the recommendations of Westinghouse and which were used in the active zone of reactor three of Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP during three and four fuel campaigns, have been checked. Metering was carried out to the extent of the check program agreed with the State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine. According to preliminary data, the conclusion could be made that there are no remarks on the fuel assemblies," reads the report, citing Head of the nuclear safety department at Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP Oleksiy Arvaninov.

Westinghouse fuel assemblies were checked at the stand bought by Energoatom for conducting checks and repairs on Westinghouse fuel assemblies. In February 2015, the stand was expanded with the repair unit, which can be used to repair the fuel assemblies.

The press service said that the check of Westinghouse's fuel assemblies ended with a positive result and finished the list of the required measures and actions which are to precede the loading of the modified Westinghouse (WR) fuel assemblies to the active zone of reactor 3 at Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP.

In November 2014, 42 fresh fuel assemblies were delivered to the NPP. They will be loaded into the reactor in March 2015.

Energoatom is the operator of all four operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine. It operates 15 power units equipped with water-cooled power reactors, with a total installed electrical capacity of 13.835 gigawatts.