Holtec International said in a statement on 12 June that the consortium is a US company registered in Delaware with each of the three parties owning allotted shares. The consortium’s technology operation centre will be based in Kiev, Ukraine.
Confirmation that the consortium has been formed will give fresh impetus to realising the objectives of an agreement signed by Energoatom and Holtec last year that envisages the construction of six SMR-160s at Ukraine’s Rivne nuclear station site.
Energoatom president Yuriy Nedashkovskyof and Holtec’s Kris Singh signed the consortium document in person with SSTC President Igor Shevchenko signing remotely. The signing ceremony was attended by senior Holtec officials and delegations from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO), US Department of Energy and Energoatom.
Speaking at a signing ceremony this week, Energoatom president Yuriy Nedashkovsky said nuclear energy plays a dominant role in Ukraine’s energy mix providing over 50% of the nation’s electric generation. He said he was confident the SMR-160 will provide a clean energy successor to the nation’s aging fleet of coal-fired plants.
Mr Nedashkovskyof told attendees at the ceremony that there is “a national consensus” in Ukraine to build SMRs which has been reached after extensive research and consultations.
In March 2018 Energoatom and Holtec signed an agreement for Ukraine to adopt Holtec’s SMR-160 technology in the latter half of the next decade.
Under the agreement Ukraine will become a manufacturing hub for SMR-160 components and systems, mirroring the capabilities of Holtec’s Camden plant in New York state. Holtec said its business plan calls for having four manufacturing plants around the globe operational by mid-2020s.
Holtec said earlier it was in talks with leading Ukrainian suppliers of speciality machinery such as turbogenerators to integrate their products in SMR-160.
