Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom has begun transporting used nuclear fuel from the nation’s operating reactors to its newly built central spent fuel storage facility (CSFSF).
The company said in a statement that operation of the facility, built by US-based Holtec International inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the north of the country, means Russia will not be able to force Ukraine’s reactors to shut down because of lack of used fuel storage capacity.
It said the facility would save Kyiv approximately $200m (€182m) a year in remittances to Russia for the storage of Ukraine’s fuel and remove a “strategic dependence” on Russia.