Nuclear disaster and collapse of energy industry in store for Ukraine

[bananas]

http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/11-04-2014/127335-ukraine_nuclear_disaster-0/

Nuclear disaster and collapse of energy industry in store for Ukraine
11.04.2014

Ukraine may soon experience a nuclear disaster and collapse of the energy industry. All this may happen because of the American fuel that Ukrainian officials intend to use at nuclear power plants, in spite of the fact that nuclear plants in Ukraine were built to operate specifically on Russian energy sources.

Ukrainian corporation Energoatom is ready to sign a contract for the supply of American nuclear fuel - Westinghouse. The contract can be signed already next week. The fuel is planned to be used for three reactors. The contract will be concluded through 2020; the deal is evaluated at about $100 million. It may seem to be a normal procedure, but the history of relations between Westinghouse and Ukrainian energy companies was complicated and dramatic.

Prior to 2011, all nuclear fuel to the country was supplied by Russian company TVEL. Afterwards, the contract to supply fuel for three power-generating units was signed with Westinghouse. A year later, problems began. The material of the housing of the rods, in which uranium fuel tablets were placed, turned out to be of poor quality. When repairing the reactors of the South-Ukrainian NPP, specialists discovered that so-called fuel assemblies lost geometry and began to bend. Experts concluded that the power units could come out of order at any time.

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It was Russian specialists who had to solve the problem: the reactors were switched back to TVEL's fuel. Ukraine's nuclear control department banned the further exploitation of Westinghouse due to insecurity and violations of technical requirements. The Ukrainian budget lost $175 million, but it was not the money that was at stake.

Nuclear energy provides for a half of all electricity in Ukraine. There are four operating nuclear power plants in the country, with 15 generating units in total. On the number of reactors, the country comes tenth in the world and fifth in Europe. Experts are certain that the use of questionable technologies, especially in a hurry, without thorough legal and technical preparations, may lead to lamentable consequences to Ukraine's neighbors.

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[JayhawkSD]

1. I clicked the link and read the cited piece...

...and still coundn't make any real sense out ot it.

"The material of the housing of the rods, in which uranium fuel tablets were placed, turned out to be of poor quality. When repairing the reactors of the South-Ukrainian NPP, specialists discovered that so-called fuel assemblies lost geometry and began to bend. Experts concluded that the power units could come out of order at any time."

This doesn't make any actual logic. The first sentence might, but for Westinghouse to produce fuel rod with cladding of "poor quality" that would allow the fuel rods to bend is pretty much incomprenensible. By "repairing" the reactors I assume they actually mean refeulling them. I suspect there is a serious translation problem.

As best I can guess, the Westinghouse fuel does not fit in the Russian-designed reactors, which is hardly surprising and which the piece expresses rather nonsensically as "violations of technical requirements." I'm not sure why anyone ever thought that it would fit.

[darkangel218]

2. That was my main concern to begin with.

Who is going to help them with their nuclear plants?
Hopefully EU and US will step in and provide the much needed assistance.

[maddezmom]

3. Weird....

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/04/prweb11756053.htm