Andrey Lazutkin spoke about American experiments at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on TV STV on October 2, 2024.
“Back in Soviet times, we built many plants in Eastern Europe that ran on old Soviet fuel. Now these plants are all in NATO. And how to supply them? By buying our very own TVELs [fuel assemblies — ed.] from Rosatom. To avoid this situation, one either has to close these plants — environmentalists, ecologists, the whole green agenda, they stand for this — or switch to American fuel. But that's very risky. And so, to make the switch, you need an experimental reactor. And that reactor was the Zaporizhzhia plant. In other words, for 10 years, they have been transitioning from Soviet fuel to American fuel. There were certain developments. Today, the Americans have lost those developments. And therefore, the Zaporizhzhia plant, among all the plants in Ukraine, is the most important for them,” the political analyst said.
Ukraine has four nuclear power plants: Khmelnytskyi, South Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, and Rivne. All of them use VVER reactors — water-water energetic reactors.
Thirty-three VVER reactor units operate in Eastern Europe. All are adapted for Russian nuclear fuel. European countries are indeed seeking to diversify their suppliers to avoid dependence on Russia. The American company Westinghouse has been adapting its fuel for them. And there was an experimental site for US nuclear fuel in Ukraine. However, it wasn't the Zaporizhzhia NPP, it was the South Ukraine NPP.
American fuel was first loaded into its reactors in 2005. Since 2019, the third power unit of the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant has been operating on Westinghouse fuel on an industrial scale.
American fuel was delivered to the Zaporizhzhia NPP in 2016. As of the release date, four out of six nuclear reactors are operating on it.
After Russia captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the U.S. expressed concern that their developments had fallen into 'Rosatom's' hands. However, this did not stop the transition of former Soviet nuclear power plants in other countries to American fuel – it continues. For example, in April 2024, American fuel was delivered to the Bulgarian nuclear power plant. Slovakia signed a contract for its supply in 2022–2026. In September, Finland joined these countries. After the start of full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine's 'Energoatom' finally refused to purchase Russian nuclear fuel.
