National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom, the operator of all existing nuclear power plants in Ukraine, signed a contract with American Westinghouse Electric Company for supply of BEACON software to enable the monitoring of an active zone in power unit 5 at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (NPP) during the introduction of the U.S.-produced nuclear fuel, according to the company`s statement.
BEACON has been successfully used in power unit 3 at Yuzhnoukrainka NPP, the company emphasized.
BEACON, a patented system for an active zone monitoring, which helps to ensure safe operations of power units, has been in operation since 1990 and is used at 50 nuclear power plants in eight countries around the world.
As UaPosition reported earlier, as part of measures aimed at diversifying sources of nuclear fuel supplies, Ukraine intends in 2016 to buy one-third of nuclear fuel for its NPPs from Westinghouse, as almost all the fuel purchased in 2015 had been produced in Russia.
Yuzhnoukrainka NPP in March of last year successfully completed the loading of upgraded TVS-WR fuel manufactured by Westinghouse at its power unit No. 3. In April, the unit was connected to the country`s power grid.
In an interview with UNIAN, Westinghouse Chief Danny Roderick said his company was ready to put its fuel in all Ukrainian NPPs.
According to the Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Ministry, this year Ukraine intends to use fuel from Westinghouse in three nuclear power units, out of a total of 15 units.
In February 2016, Energoatom supplied the first batch of U.S.-produced nuclear fuel to Zaporizhia NPP.
