Ukraine and Poland have completed joint environmental consultations on the expansion of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant.

The Ministry of Economy, Environmental Protection, and Agriculture of Ukraine announced that expert consultations with Poland on the potential cross-border impact of constructing new blocks at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (Khmelnytsky) have been successfully concluded. The focus of the talks was on blocks 5 and 6, which will use the AP1000 technology from Westinghouse

Discussions were conducted under the UN Espoo Convention, which obliges states to consult with neighboring countries when planned projects may have environmental impact beyond their borders. Deputy Minister Vitalij Kindrativ emphasized Ukraine's complete openness: “We are committed to open dialogue and constructive cooperation with Polish partners to ensure transparency, safety, and compliance with international standards.”

In addition to Poland, Ukraine has also informed Austria, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary about the project, and all these countries, except Hungary, confirmed their participation in further consultations.

The Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant is located about 225 kilometers from the border with Poland and currently has two operational blocks – both VVER-1000 designs and a capacity of 1000 megawatts each. The expansion plan is quite ambitious: for blocks 3 and 4 there are plans to continue construction of previously started units; while Ukraine has decided for blocks 5 and 6 to pursue entirely new AP1000 reactors, which will form the core of the country's future energy stability.

Overall, Ukraine plans to build at least nine AP1000 units to compensate for capacity losses during the war (the Zaporizhzhia NPP was occupied at the very beginning of the war, it is in a cold shutdown, and its future is not clear) and to ensure that at least half of its electricity production is generated from nuclear sources.

And let us also add that Ukraine is one of the largest users of nuclear energy, and by the share of energy it derives from nuclear sources it is at the very top of the world rankings, just after France, which is considered a world leader.

The editor of this paper has written several articles on the topic of Ukraine and its nuclear facilities, and we highlight the one that appeared a few months ago, which you can read on the Novosti Portal.