Cooperation with Ukraine Favored in Europe – Martin Groch
On 28-29 September 2023, the Fifth International Conference “Prospects for the Introduction of Innovations in Nuclear Energy” was held in Kyiv. The conference was organized by the Public organization “Ukrainian Nuclear Society” (UkrNS) together with the Council of Young Scientists at the Department of Physical and Technical Problems of Power Engineering of the NAS of Ukraine, Institute for Safety Problems of NPP of the NAS of Ukraine.
The first day of the Conference was held in the form of the plenary session and the second was presented by two sectional panels – “Innovations for Sustainable Development of the Nuclear Industrial Complex” and “Innovations for Sustainable Development and Improving the Safety of the Nuclear Power Plants”.
During the Conference the main attention was paid to the small modular reactors (SMR). The experts covered various aspects of the implementation of this technology. Valentyn Kyryanchuk, Chief Engineer of Scientific and Technical Center of Energoatom, outlined the SMR investment attractiveness, and Viktor Shenderovych, Honored Power Engineer of Ukraine, raised the issue of the licensing of new reactors in Ukraine. Tetiana Verbytska, Press Secretary of the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC NRS), focused her attention on the aspect of interaction with the public and consideration of the public opinion during SMR implementation in Ukraine.
In the framework of the Conference, the presentation of the highly mobile rapid response power facilities developed by Argus Service which are necessary for recovery of the centralized heating systems and characterized by high mobility, rapid heat supply to the facility, complete autonomy and operational safety was made. Maksym Sagdiiev, Major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Director of the LLC “Argus Service” told about this.
The Czech DAVID SMR technology was presented by Martin Groch, Chairman of the CZECHATOM Design Bureau. He informed on the conceptual design. Also, Martin Groch emphasized that Ukrainian institutions took part in the project, including Energoatom, SSTC NRS, Institute for Safety Problems of NPP of the NAS of Ukraine, Science and Technology Center of Ukraine and noted the following: “In Europe it is modern to cooperate with Ukraine. We started cooperation long before that, since leading experts and institutions are here.”
The topic of hydrogen generation, in particular at Ukrainian nuclear power plants, was primary raised during the Conference. Oleksandr Mazurok, Technical Director of the Energy Safety Group, presented the first results of the NPHyCo research project, which investigates the possibilities of hydrogen cogeneration. Within the scope of the project, Khmelnytsky NPP and Rivne NPP were chosen for possible implementation of hydrogen facilities, and each NPP peculiarities were analyzed for meeting the needs of the hydrogen plant and licensing. A preliminary analysis of RNPP and KhNPP capabilities showed that it is possible to introduce the hydrogen technologies in the control area, but there is a number of technical aspects and need to confirm the safety of hydrogen plant placement near the NPP.
Mykhailo Ulanov, Senior Researcher of the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, also investigated the large-scale production of the low-carbon hydrogen near the existing NPP units. The research results demonstrate that nuclear power plants can generate from 3 to 4 GWh (7000-8500 hours per year) of free electricity to produce environmentally friendly low-carbon hydrogen by means of electrolysis, and given that the electricity generated by the nuclear power plant is the cheapest, it is possible to expect a competitive price for low-carbon hydrogen in the short term perspective.
Also, in the framework of the Conference, the participants had an opportunity to take part in the discussions dedicated to the aging management of the dry spent fuel storage facilities and nuclear energy functioning and development, considering the consequences of russian aggression.
Uatom.org website