Ukraine wants to build a new NPP

2025-06-12

At the nuclear site of Khmelnitsky, two new reactors are foreseen by Ukraine (KhNPP 5&6). Two reactors are already in operation at the site (KhNPP 1&2), and for two other reactors construction was stopped (KhNPP 3&4). An Environmental Impact Assessment is being conducted in spring 2025. The Joint Project participated and submitted a statement that was signed by 11 European NGOs.

We demand that the EIA Report shall include accident calculations with the highest source term for which the risk is not zero, and dispersion calculations for all of Europe. In the EIA report, a source term for Cs-137 of 11.7 TeraBq is used which is too small. Calculations were only made for a distance up to 30 km which is also insufficient. For comparison in our statement we provided results from accident calculations from the flexRISK project which show that in case of a severe accident in Khmelnitsky large parts of Europa could be affected.

Moreover, we demand that the EIA report answers what measures will be taken to ensure that the NPP will not be vulnerable to drone attacks, to cyber-attacks and to other acts of war and terrorism.

Before any new-build, Ukraine should ensure its nuclear waste management: As of today, Ukraine is far from having a final repository for spent fuel.

And we demand that the EIA report presents energy production alternatives to nuclear power, including a long-term prognosis of the Ukrainian energy needs.