Ukraine is becoming a battle field in the nuclear competition between the US and Russia - Newsweek

The proposed international sanctions on the nuclear industry of Moscow have not yet received widespread support, since exports of uranium from Russia continues to be a large part of global deliveries, especially for Soviet construction reactors. However, Ukraine believes that closer cooperation with American nuclear companies can be a key solution to this problem.

Ukraine and the American company Westinghouse Electric Corporation have reached a partnership agreement aimed at moving to Western nuclear infrastructure. In the west of Ukraine, it is planned to install two AP1000 reactors at the Khmelnytsky Power Plant, while the two other VVER-1000 reactors are built using equipment received from Bulgaria.

Galushchenko expresses the hope that Ukraine's decision to switch to new reactors and use new fuel sources for VVER will attract the attention of other European countries that still use Russian development reactors. This applies, in particular, to Hungary, Slovakia, Finland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Westinghouse is already working on new projects in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and other European countries.

Another American company Holtec also works with Ukraine to create a repository for spent nuclear fuel. According to Galushchenko, it gives the US a great opportunity to become a key player in the nuclear sector of Europe. "This means that we [can] destroy Russia's dependence and monopoly for the supply of nuclear fuel," said Energy Minister of Ukraine, Herman Galushchenko in an exclusive interview with Newsweek.

President Vladimir Putin and his representatives have repeatedly expressed threats to possible escalation, including the use of nuclear weapons, especially in the case of direct NATO intervention. At the same time, the seizure and occupation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the south of the country pose a constant threat to a possible catastrophe. "Everyone understands that this is just a matter of time when an accident occurs. This can happen today.

The problem is that the Russians are indifferent," - explained Herman Galushchenko. Ukraine has long been striving for sanctions on the Moscow nuclear industry, but Western allies have difficulty, taking into account the potential impact on the world nuclear energy markets.

Galushchenko notes that the focus of the Russian nuclear industry will be directed at one of the few strategic "intellectual exports" remaining in Russia, given the rich history of the country in the nuclear industry and its global influence. Kiev promotes its own atomic project to further strengthen the Western nuclear industry. Currently, Ukraine is operating four nuclear power plants and 15 reactors, all of which are VVER reactors.

"For Europe, this may also be very important in the safety of deliveries," Galushchenko said, assuming that Ukraine is the only country that can easily replace the loss of Russian energy. Galushchenko believes that Moscow attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure since the fall of 2022 was partially motivated by the new export of Kyiv's electricity to the west.