Thirty-eight years after the Chornobyl disaster, Ukraine’s nuclear industry continues to produce around half of Ukraine’s power output and remains vital to keeping the country functioning.
The share of energy output in Ukraine that comes from nuclear power is the third highest in the world after France and Slovakia.
Amid ongoing attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the threat of a new nuclear accident in Ukraine remains elevated and has brought an unprecedented level of attention and involvement from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
After the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia plant by Russian forces in March 2022, the other three Soviet-era nuclear power plants remain under Ukrainian control. Compared to the devastation wrought on thermal and hydroelectric power production by Russian strikes, the war’s effect on these three plants has been less severe and their production has remained relatively resilient.
With Ukraine’s energy infrastructure under attack, Ukraine has announced that further nuclear development will be a key focus in 2024. Already, construction has started on additional reactors at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant to increase its output.
“The construction of new power units is very important for the country, because nuclear energy remains an island of stability,” Petro Kotin, the head of Energoatom, the state-owned company responsible for Ukraine’s nuclear plants, said earlier this month.
The largest impact to Ukraine’s nuclear production since the beginning of the war has been the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The plant’s conditions are also the current biggest threat to nuclear safety.
The plant, located in the town of Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia oblast, was captured by Russian forces shortly after the full-scale invasion began. Since September 2022, it has not supplied energy to the Ukrainian power grid.
In early 2022, the Zaporizhzhia plant had been responsible for 43% of nuclear power generated by Ukraine, according to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) figures. However, due to reductions in other types of power generation – such as from the recent strikes that have crippled thermal power production – nuclear power is still around half of Ukraine’s total power generation despite losing Zaporizhzhia’s contribution.
Fears of a nuclear accident or sabotage have spread across Europe since its capture. Last year, Ukraine carried out large-scale exercises to prepare an emergency response in case of a Russian attack on the plant.
After more than two years of military occupation, the equipment and safety at the plant has significantly degraded from a lack of proper maintenance and repair as well as incompetent and illegal Russian staff, he added. The inspectorate was also forced to withdraw its supervisory staff for their protection.
Although the reactors are currently shut down, they still require access to water and external power to maintain a safe core temperature and to operate safety measures. Power outages have periodically cut electricity to the plant, forcing it to rely on backup generators at least eight times, according to the IAEA.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023 also renewed fears around the plant’s access to water, since water from the dam’s reservoir was previously pumped to the plant for cooling. However, the plant has a separate cooling pond whose water levels are currently stable, according to Energoatom.
Pylyp is an experienced private banker and asset manager.