The Telegraph newspaper reported that the industrial group Rolls-Royce is negotiating with one of the largest Ukrainian electricity companies (DTEK), and that the British company could build modular reactors in the country.
DTEK is owned by billionaire Rinat Ahmetov and the company is negotiating with Rolls. Maksim Timchenko, the company’s CEO, said DTEK wants to increase nuclear energy production.
DTEK and Rolls are studying whether coal plants could be rebuilt in the 2030s. They would then be replaced by modular reactors.
Russia continues to bomb Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Therefore, Ukraine wants to decentralize its electricity grid and introduce more renewable energy sources. In May, a wind farm in southern Ukraine began producing electricity, which DTEK built in just nine months during the war.
However, according to Timchenko, the country must also develop nuclear energy production. Ukraine had four nuclear power plants, which provided nearly half of the electricity it needed. However, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is now located in the territory occupied by Russian forces. Therefore, Ukraine is now interested in modular reactors.
Rolls-Royce has confirmed that the two companies are in talks. Dozens of new small modular reactors are currently under development around the world. In theory, this is a smaller type of nuclear reactor that is manufactured elsewhere and then assembled locally. The Telegraph writes that DTEK is also in talks with other companies developing modular reactors.
2023-12-18 06:06:00
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