Ambitious plans for the decarbonization of the economy and the reduction of coal yields, declared in the Paris climate, have provoked a strong interest in nuclear energy and new technologies in the whole world. technology in this field.

Among them, projects for the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) have gained particular popularity. By taking into account their compact size and the instantaneous power potential, it is possible to provide both electricity and heat to distant areas. In addition, the advantages of SMR compared to the great traditional nuclear power plants include greater safety, saving time, cost and other resources for everyday life.

Following the beginning of Putin's aggression in Ukraine, the development of SMR technology has become an issue due to the risk that the power of the entire nuclear industry has a significant deposit in Russia. This region is deprived of the main source of nuclear fuel (rich in uranium) for the important majority of projects that are being implemented in the world. In addition, the Russian state corporation Rosatom is actively contributing to the development of SMRs, and its members are taking part in the scientific platform with SMRs organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“Ukrainian Energy” found out how Russian expansion into the market of nuclear innovations and interests in the everyday life of the SMR can be initiated by Ukrainian business.

Nuclear sanctions

Preparing to deprive the White House of the newly elected US President Donald Trump, the Joe Biden administration has imposed “the most severe sanctions” not only on the Russian oil and gas sector, but also against Rosatom and its kerivnitsa.

The remaining “black list” included 14 members of the company, including General Director Oleksiy Likhachov. In the notification of the State Department of the United States, it was indicated that this is already the eleventh sanctions package that is tied to this very sovereign corporation.

The department calls the Rosatom members from the malicious activity behind the cordon of nuclear power plants, the export of Russian technologies, the occupation of the Zaporizka nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as well as the “secure” Russian defense industry with advanced nuclear technologies of military significance for the further war of Russia against Ukraine.”

“American sanctions are affecting Russians due to light-heartedness. “This is a significant time in the process of getting Rosatom out of the international market,” says Energy Research Center expert Oleksandr Kharchenko, commenting on the legacy of advances that will continue to pit Washington against Moscow. “It’s important that you need more, if you don’t mind the firebrand, the devil’s hard work has been crushed beforehand,” said Vin.

Ubiquitous MMR

In the future, anti-Russian sanctions may expand to the new sphere of nuclear energy, related to such a technology of distributed generation as SMR. In contrast to centralized large nuclear power plants, it is rapidly gaining popularity in the whole world, but will require further research.

The Paul Scherrer Institute of Science in Zurich expects that the development of international oil and gas pipelines in foreign countries will reach commercial levels “no later than 2030.” And already in 2035, small modular reactors may reach 9% of the total capacity of new nuclear power plants on the global level. Please note, this forecast was made by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Economic Development and Development Organization (OECD).

The most successful SMR systems have been Russia and China, while in the USA, Canada and France a number of such systems are at the development stage or awaiting approval by regulatory authorities.

So that in the current geopolitical realities SMRs “have effectively become an instrument of energy security,” Ukraine’s formidable allies may radically enforce sanctions against the Russian nuclear power plant and nuclear power plant, reduce any opportunities for international cooperation and exchange of information. In this regard, the expertise of the DiXi Group analytical center includes the authors of the study “Small modular reactors: a new market that needs to be protected from Russia.”

They respect the need to live in other ways against the aggressor country, which flared up a war against Ukraine. In the midst of these, zokrema, developments independent from the influx of Moscow Lantzug, the supply of uranium, the creation of minds for the production of nuclear fire in the countries of the EU and the USA; sanction pressure on key Russian gravitationalists, obtained before the development and introduction of the SMR; promoting common technological standards between countries that do not support the Russian regime; Russia's third-party research and research platforms that support SMRs.

“Doctors that the United States is the flagship of the implementation of sanctions, we suspect that American and Ukrainian goals of preventing Russia’s expansion into the small and medium-size mineral resources market are growing. “What is the situation in the EU and other G7 countries, they are also likely to work hard, otherwise they will not block Russia’s prospects for leadership in the small and medium-sized mineral resources market, and will also change the stock of Russian nuclear fire and technology,” - Olena Lapenko, general manager of the security and stability sector of DiXi Group and co-author of the research, said in a commentary for Ukrainian Energy.

How to Stop Russian Expansion

However, the Russian influx into the Galusi MMR is not easy to overcome. As Olena Lapenko explained, Moscow is gaining competitive advantages in this market through the availability of working SMR prototypes, including floating nuclear power plants. Viklikom is deprived of the signal of the edges to Russian technological standards and their storage from the Russian nuclear fire. And the existence of a coordinated international strategy to counter the Russian influx of innovative nuclear technologies into the market allows Moscow to continue promoting them on the global stage.

“To achieve these transitions, it is necessary to consolidate the current partners of Ukraine in several directions. Let’s go ahead, it is important to speed up the development and expansion of advanced SMR technologies, create additional financial brains for potential replacements and develop alternative weapons for nuclear firing. It is critical to form an international alliance of SMR distributors to coordinate and unify standards,” said Olena Lapenko.

The DiXi Group expert reconfirmed that Ukraine can also play an important role in this process and take a proactive position: demonstrate its significant evidence of the operation of nuclear installations and take part in the development international standards.

Ukrainian ambitions and possibilities

Atomic gas industry in Ukraine is developing almost half a century ago. This history began in 1977, when the first power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant was put into operation.

Before the start of a full-scale war and the occupation by Russian terrorists in 2022 of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe - Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, there were 15 nuclear reactors in operation in Ukraine. They provided up to 55% of the base supply in the electricity supply and created the basis for the export of Ukrainian electricity to the European Union. During the war, the situation changed radically, and now Ukraine will soon require accommodation from Europe.

In the future, the development of nuclear power generation, electricity generation, private and government-owned SMR projects may contribute to the modernization of not only the economy of Ukraine, but also to the export of Ukrainian electricity for European companions.

According to the estimates of the head of the association “Ukrainian Nuclear Forum” Mikoli Kukharchuk in 2021, Ukraine’s potential industry can provide up to 75% of the production of SMR components, and the legislative base is sufficient for the preparation of any types of reactors.

Ukraine is already alive. “Thanks to the partnership of the National Energy Joint Stock Company Energoatom with the American companies Holtec International, NuScale, Westinghouse, our country is forming a tank of future energy, based on the security of innovations. There are plans to create an alternative power supply system with 20 MMP-160 nuclear reactors,” says the DiXi Group.

Also at the minor climate change conference COP29 in Baku, Ukraine and the United States announced the launch of three interconnected new SMR projects within the framework of the FIRST (Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology) partnership program. which transfers the development of a pilot plant from the production of clean water and ammonia, the transfer of coal-fired power plants to SMRs and the development of a road map for decarbonization of the steel industry with the help of SMRs.

Let us assume that Ukrainian plans in nuclear energy provide new incentives for development during the term of the newly elected US President Donald Trump, who has officially given up his job for the past 20 years. Businessman Chris Wright, who nominated the new head of the Ministry of Energy, announced ahead of the Senate hearings that the key priority of his activities will be the promotion of nuclear energy and energy development. American SMR technologies.

Galuz MMR of the upcoming US Secretary of Energy can only be cited as a potential official in the presidential administration, and also as a venture investor who has invested in the startup Oklo, which will be in 2027 Idaho State has its first MMR.

Ukrainian enterprises are also subject to MMR. Zokrema in 2023 will see the formation of the largest private energy holding DTEK of Rinat Akhmetov to further research and promote this technology by creating the company Denetek, which received an “exclusive partnership” from the American company Eney. The founders of the rest are ex-secretary of Naftogaz of Ukraine Andriy Kobolev and diplomat Suriya Jayanthi, a huge supervisor in the energy department of the US Embassy in Ukraine.

It is difficult to evaluate the future of this business. According to DTEK General Director Maxim Timchenko, the prospects for SMR projects in Ukraine lie not only in the maturity of technology, but also in the complexity of the regulatory policy in the country.

Svitlana Dolinchuk, specially for Ukrainian Energy

Tags:Russia