Atomic engineer Uvarov revealed American secrets at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

The US Department of Energy has warned Russia about the inadmissibility of using American nuclear technology at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, CNN reported. What kind of “nuclear technical data of American origin” can we talk about, and how can this affect “undermining the national security of the United States,” Alexander Uvarov, an expert in the field of nuclear energy, told MK.

“There are no secrets or special technologies at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, at most, we can talk about a trade secret,” says Alexander Uvarov, director of the AtomInfo Center. – The Americans supplied their nuclear fuel to the station and, in parallel, software.

According to American laws, when supplying software, the organization for expert control must put its own stamp. That is, there is an export control system, there should be a stamp that it can be sold to another country that does not have a nuclear bomb, such as Ukraine.

Formally, this software was supplied to Ukraine, and not to Russia. Therefore, since last year, Americans have been writing letters stating that, in accordance with such and such agreements, this American software should not be touched. It’s just that CNN just now “noticed” it. And, apparently, for good reason. A number of countries are now pushing the European Union to impose the most stringent sanctions against Rosatom and its subsidiaries.

The expert clarifies that the supplied software is mainly the so-called engineering programs intended for the operation of specific power units of the station.

“These engineering programs are of no scientific or technical interest to us. This is a fairly simplified software that simulates what is happening at a nuclear power unit. We have our own settlement complexes, and in a fairly large number. After all, water-cooled power reactors (VVER-1000), which are installed at the Zaporozhye NPP, are our reactors.

As Alexander Uvarov says, we are not interested in these American products from the word “generally”.

– If I were a student, I would also look through their documentation, see what they wrote there. But no one will take it seriously. To give this event more weight, CNN also talked about some “nuclear technical data of American origin.”

The US Department of Energy, in a letter addressed to Rosatom, warns that the use of American technology will be illegal.

– They remind: “Do not touch”, but we do not need it. The Americans did not leave any secrets, any special, great technologies there. Moreover, they would not have delivered anything of such interest to Ukraine. In such countries, which are not sufficiently developed from the point of view of the nuclear industry, such technologies are not supplied.

What we supply abroad is also, as they say, not the most advanced “scientific thought”. And this is understandable, because this is still a sensitive area, and such deliveries should not lead to any unpleasant consequences, for example, to the appearance of an atomic bomb.

Four power units of the Zaporozhye NPP – 1, 3, 4 and 5 – use American nuclear fuel produced by Westinghouse.

– In my opinion, one of the main tasks of the IAEA inspectors who are now at the site of the Zaporizhzhya NPP is to control, to make sure that the American fuel is in its place, does not disappear anywhere, so that no one touches it.

For us, it is also of no particular interest, and the IAEA monitors this so that some student does not bother to be interested in it.

The Americans will now offer the Czechs a slightly different nuclear fuel. And what is located at the Zaporozhye NPP, even for an American company, is already the last century. The Americans have something to steal, but on their territory.