IAEA Says Impossible for Ukraine to Switch to US Nuclear Fuel

Forum Contacts RSS		RUSSIAN

RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 23.05.2014

It is impossible for Ukraine to swap Russian-made fuel in its nuclear reactors for US fuel rods, the head of the Operational Safety Section at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday.

"If Ukraine makes a decision to change all the fuel, then IAEA sees it as impossible, it is not a simple metal part, it is very important from the safety point of view. I think that, since Ukraine has its own tules, has nuclear safety, has regulator, it will not happen", said Miroslav Lipar speaking at a nuclear conference titled "Safety, Efficiency and Economy of Nuclear Power".

According to Lipar, long-term operation of new fuel assemblies is necessary before one can make an assessment of safety implications of the use of other manufacturer's fuel.

"There is an example of Rivne station where they changed only a small piece of metal on the safety valve, which was not original. This led to the closure of the safety valve," said the representative of the IAEA.

Ukraine's national electricity agency Energoatom earlier extended a fuel supply agreement with US-based fuel-making firm Westinghouse. Under the contract, the US company will supply nuclear fuel to Ukraine's pressurized water reactors at the South Ukraine nuclear power plant until 2020. Some Russian nuclear experts consider it as a threat to nuclear safety in the region.

Topics: IAEA, East Europe, Ukraine, Westinghouse

Other news:

Hungary Enacts Law to Expand Nuclear Power With Russian Aid

Hungary’s president has signed a bill into law to expand a nuclear power plant in the country with Russian assistance.

Hungary Lawmakers OK Russia Nuclear Plant Deal

Russia will provide Hungary a loan of up to 10 billion euros ($13.5 billion) - around 80 percent of construction costs.

Russia to Lend Hungary $13.7Bln for Nuclear Plant

The deal was announced during a state visit to Moscow by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and was hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hero of the day

Questions for Jerry Hopwood

We are currently working with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on this approach, which was submitted in response to their February 2012 call for alternative proposals. We appreciate that the UK is in the early stages of their policy development activities and are pleased to be involved in such important work.

INTERVIEW

Yanko Yanev
Unfortunately, we live in this age of narrow political thinking. Each of our politicians think how to survive, whether he will be the next convocation of the parliament or the government or not.

OPINION

Joint Plan of Action
The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran's nuclear programme will be exclusively peaceful. Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek or develop any nuclear weapons.