Fresh nuclear fuel from Westinghouse (the USA) for two power units of Khmelnytsky NPP with VVER-1000 reactors was delivered to the station site, the press service of Energoatom reported on Friday.

According to it, fuel loading into the NPP reactors will be carried out this year during scheduled maintenance.

“Before this, two Khmelnytsky NPP units operated on Russian fuel, purchased even before the full-scale invasion. After February 24, 2022, Energoatom completely stopped cooperation with the aggressor country. Now all domestic nuclear power plants will use American fuel assemblies,” the report notes.

The press service noted that the company carried out a number of technical works and also purchased the necessary equipment so that all Ukrainian nuclear power plant units with VVER-1000 and VVER-440 reactors would operate on Westinghouse fuel.

As reported, in 2000, in order to diversify the sources of nuclear fuel supplies for Ukrainian nuclear power plants, Energoatom, together with Westinghouse, began implementing a project to qualify this company's nuclear fuel. The first contract for the supply of nuclear fuel between the parties was signed in 2008.

In June 2022, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed an agreement on the supply of nuclear fuel to all nuclear power plants in Ukraine.

In September 2023, Energoatom became the first power generating company in the world to operate Soviet-design reactors, but to implement a project to diversify nuclear fuel for reactors of the VVER-1000 and VVER-440 types.