Nuclear worker Uvarov spoke about emergency situations at the Rivne NPP: “The situation is not very normal”

“When they switch to fuel from another supplier, it’s a whole procedure.”

Problems began at the Rivne nuclear power plant, located in Ukraine, in Volyn Polesie, reports the specialized publication Geoenergetics INFO. Last month, American Westinghouse nuclear fuel was ceremonially loaded into the VVER-440 reactor here. Over the past two weeks, three emergencies have occurred at the station. We talked with the director of AtomInfo-Center, Alexander Uvarov, about how compatible the pressurized water power reactor, developed in the Soviet Union, is with American assemblies.

“The fact is that for VVER-440 reactors there actually was an alternative nuclear fuel,” says Alexander Uvarov. — The question arises: how do they differ from the high-power VVER-1000 reactors, for which Westinghouse made nuclear fuel already in this century? This fuel was made earlier for VVER-440 reactors. It was used in Finland, at the Loviisa nuclear power plant, located on the island of Hästholmen. This Soviet-built station is the first with VVER-440 reactors in a capitalist country. And indeed, at one time, an alternative fuel developed by British companies, BNFL, was used there. Then these developments were transferred to Westinghouse. This nuclear fuel performed quite well and there were no major problems with it. But they ultimately lost the tender to our Russian nuclear scientists. Simply because the Russians offered more favorable conditions. And with this, the topic of alternative fuel for VVER-440 reactors was virtually closed. Production lines stopped working.

As the expert says, all this was forgotten until 2014.

“And then Westinghouse saw an opportunity to push the Russians in Eastern Europe. We began to conduct research and think about where this fuel could be loaded. The option of Slovakia was considered, this was even before the start of the special operation in Ukraine. But Slovakia has a rather strict Atomic Supervision Authority. The Americans were told that they would not recognize the Finnish results and would have to carry out full testing, and at their own expense. For some reason, the Americans didn’t like this, especially the last clarification. There was a pause, but then Ukraine jumped out. They have two VVER-440 reactors at the Rivne NPP. This was the third attempt to use alternative fuel.

Alexander Uvarov notes that when they switch to fuel from another supplier (previously the VVER-440 reactor worked only with Russian-made assemblies. – Auto.), this is a whole procedure. You need to understand what pitfalls may arise.

— The situation at the Rivne NPP now, in my opinion, is not very normal. Still, there is military action in the country. It is quite possible that mistakes were made at the station, and the human factor is to blame. We must also take into account that these reactors are quite old. Their resource was extended. Until 2013, they did it quite well. The nuclear inspection service in Ukraine was very serious back then. It is clear that if the life of the reactor is extended, then it must be modernized. Before the Maidan this was done carefully, after the Maidan – as it turns out. Over the past ten years, their extension dates have been treated as a political decision rather than a technical one. Sooner or later this was bound to take its toll.

The expert believes that the problems at the Rivne NPP are most likely due to the fact that the units are aging.

— It is necessary to properly manage their aging, there is such a concept. Monitor carefully and change anything that breaks down. Introduce additional maintenance for equipment that may cause problems.

Now specialists from the Khmelnytsky NPP and the South Ukrainian NPP have arrived at the Rivne station, where there is a threat of shutdown of the power unit. It is reported that a delegation from Sweden, where Westinghouse nuclear fuel is produced, is expected at the station.

— Westinghouse is an American company, but it has a plant in Sweden where they produce fuel for VVER-1000 “thousand-ton” reactors. They are also setting up production for VVER-440 there. It’s all about logistics. Nuclear fuel cannot be delivered just like that; it is a “seventh class” cargo. It is transported by certain ships, there are not many of them in the world, and they charge quite a lot for transportation. And from Sweden to Ukraine, for example, fuel can be delivered by plane.

Alexander Uvarov draws attention to the fact that it was at the Rivne NPP that four Russian specialists were captured at the beginning of the special operation.

“These were employees of a specialized enterprise, two forwarders and two conductors who, according to contractual obligations, accompanied the car with fuel. They were without weapons, which they handed over at the border. They were on the territory of Ukraine as civilians. Their task was to ensure the transfer of cargo to the Ukrainian recipient under Ukrainian guard. As a result, they were forcibly detained in a railway carriage at the Rivne NPP site. And a month and a half later they were exchanged as prisoners of war for soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.