Ukraine's Energoatom purchases additional 41 VVER Spent Fuel Dry Storage Systems

Holtec Nuclear recently announced that Ukraine's national nuclear energy company Energoatom has awarded it a new contract to supply an additional 41 spent fuel safe transport and storage systems for VVER reactors at Ukraine's Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, and South Ukraine nuclear power plants.

The contract was signed on August 26, 2026. Energoatom's acting CEO Pavlo Kovtonyuk signed the contract in Kyiv, while Holtec Nuclear's CEO and Board Chairman Kris Singh signed in Camden, New Jersey, USA. This procurement continues more than two decades of cooperation between the two parties in spent fuel management.

Under the contract, Holtec Nuclear will supply multi-purpose canister-based dry storage systems utilizing its proprietary technology. This contract supplements the amended agreement from 2015. Previously, the two parties had already deployed related systems for spent fuel storage and transport at Ukrainian VVER units.

Ukraine's existing systems primarily include the HI-STORM 190 vertical ventilated storage system, the HI-STAR 190 universal transport cask, the HI-TRAC 190 transfer cask, and supporting equipment for loading, dehydrating, and welding double-walled multi-purpose canisters at operating nuclear power plants. After drying and welding, the double-walled multi-purpose canisters are loaded into HI-STAR 190 transport casks for shipment to the central spent fuel storage facility, where they are placed into HI-STORM 190 systems for storage.

Holtec Nuclear stated that the high-capacity double-walled multi-purpose canisters and the heavy shielded transport cask HI-STAR 190 have become the primary equipment for transporting spent fuel from Ukraine's nine reactors to the national centralized interim storage facility. The central spent fuel storage facility has a design life of 100 years, and the design service life of the related systems may exceed 100 years.

Energoatom stated that the safe and reliable storage and transport of VVER reactor spent fuel helps maintain the stable operation of Ukraine's nuclear power units and reduces the costs associated with shipping spent fuel abroad for storage. According to the company, centralized spent fuel storage within Ukraine's territory avoids approximately $200 million in related expenditures annually.

Holtec Nuclear is a US-based nuclear technology company whose business covers reactor design, engineering, licensing, manufacturing, construction, commissioning, operational support, and decommissioning. The company is also advancing the SMR-300 small modular reactor project and is involved in efforts to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in the United States.