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Ukrainian environmentalists call to abandon use of nuclear plants

30 April 2015 20:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukraine is augmenting risks related to the nuclear energy sector by experimenting with running nuclear reactors in the load following regime, Oksana Maiboroda, a representative of the environmental organization Ukraine’s National Environmental Centre, said on Thursday at a board meeting of the Sate Nuclear Regulation Inspection, APA reports quoting TASS.

Earlier, Energoatom, an operator of Ukraine’ nuclear plants, said the second unit of the Khmelnitsky nuclear plant would be tested in the load following regime in a period from April 21 to May 11. It means that in period of lower electricity consumption the unit’s capacity will be reduced from 1,000 to 750 megawatt. The company said it was a "routine world practice."

Apart from that, according to Maiboroda, the situation is aggravated by "experiments with nuclear fuel" in Ukraine, in particular, the use of Westinghouse fuels at the third power unit of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant. She said citing Russia’s nuclear reactor designer, the Gidropress Design Bureau, that such fuels were not meant to be used at Ukrainian power units.

So, she said, Ukraine should abandon nuclear power generation due to big risks and "absolute dependence on Russia." Instead, Ukraine should better use energy saving technologies.

Earlier, the idea of closing Ukraine’s nuclear plants was advanced by Ukrainian energy expert and co-chairman of the Energy Strategies Fund Dmitri Marunich.