Ukraine - World Nuclear Outlook Report

Projection of future nuclear capacity in Ukraine in 2050

Ukraine's nuclear power plants are operated by National Nuclear Energy Generating Company (NNEGC) Energoatom, the country's nuclear power utility. All reactors are VVER types, two being upgraded 440 MWe V-312 models and the rest the larger VVER-1000 units¹⁶⁷. The Energy Strategy of Ukraine aims to achieve 24 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2050¹⁶⁸.

The six-unit Zaporizhzhia plant has been under the control of Russian military forces since early March 2022, and all its units are in cold shutdown¹⁶⁹.

New capacity

Large-scale reactors

Construction of Khmelnitski 3&4 began in 1986 and 1987, respectively, but has been suspended since 1990, with unit 3 reportedly around 80% complete and unit 4 about 25% complete.

In March 2025, a law was passed by the Ukrainian parliament backing a plan to procure equipment in storage at the incomplete Bulgarian Belene project to allow for completion of Khmelnitski 3&4.¹⁷⁰

In June 2022 Energoatom and Westinghouse signed an agreement to construct nine AP1000 units in Ukraine, which would add 11,250 MWe nuclear capacity¹⁷¹. These could include two new units at Khmelnitski,¹⁷² one or more units at Chyhyryn on the Tayasmyn river, and two units at the South Ukraine nuclear plant.

Long-term operation

The original design lifetime of the reactors operating in Ukraine was 30 years. Energoatom initially planned to extend the lifetimes of Rovno 1&2 and South Ukraine 1 by 15 years, and final checking of the pressure vessels (for embrittlement) and the internals of all three units was in 2008-9. In mid-2012 Energoatom announced that the 11 oldest 1000 MWe reactors were to have 20-year operating lifetime extensions by 2030.

In December 2010, national regulatory agency SNRIU approved the lifetime extension of the two 440 MWe power units of the Rivne plant until December 2030 and December 2031, respectively.¹⁷³ In July 2018, Rovno 3 was granted a 20-year extension by the SNRIU.