Despite the Russian war of aggression, Kiev is planning a massive expansion of a western Ukrainian nuclear power plant. It will be more powerful than the Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Ukraine plans to build four more reactors at the Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant with Western aid. “With the launch of six reactors, it will be the largest in Europe and more powerful than the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said on Monday. Construction is scheduled to begin this year. Reactors three and four will be of Soviet design, the VVER-1000 type.

Two more US AP-1000 variants from Westinghouse are to be built. In total, the total output of the power plant will be over 6,200 MW. “We see this as a means of compensating for the capabilities of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” the minister said.

Zaporizhzhia: “Ask at what level we will withdraw”

At the same time, he stressed that the nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine would sooner or later come back under Ukrainian control. “The question is at what point we will get it back and if we can immediately bring it back into operation,” Halushchenko said. The six-reactor Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was occupied after the Russian invasion in March 2022. All reactors were shut down for safety reasons.

Currently with two Soviet-designed reactors, each with a total output of 1,000 MW, the Khmelynzky nuclear power plant is the smallest of Ukraine's four nuclear power plants. It is about 180 kilometers from the Polish border. Before the Russian invasion nearly two years ago, more than 50 percent of Ukrainian electricity generation was based on nuclear power. Kiev continues to export surplus electricity to the EU. (APA/dpa)