The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has issued a permit to SSE Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to start commissioning work at the Chernobyl Interim Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility, which upon loading will be the world's largest dry storage installation.

Energoatom, operator of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, says it "does not support" the final text of a resolution published by the Cabinet of Ministers on a new pricing mechanism for the Public Service Obligation section of the country's wholesale electricity market.

Ukraine's Ministry of Energy has restored Energoatom’s ability to influence its own financial planning and the process of appointing a company president, in a newly approved corporate charter that has been submitted for state registration. The state-run nuclear power plant operator had started legal action to force the move before its dialogue with the ministry was resumed.

Ukraine's nuclear power plant operator will thrive in a free market and be able to export surplus electricity if the government removes impediments to its success, Herman Halushchenko, Energoatom's vice president of development, said in an interview with Energy Club last week. Asked where he sees the company in five years, he said: "There is good phrase for this - 'We are doomed to succeed'. We must give this unique company the opportunity to become truly successful."

Energoatom has had to adjust its fuel delivery schedule owing to its financial problems, but the Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator is still ensuring a diverse range of suppliers, Natalya Shumkova, the state-run company's executive director for nuclear and radiation safety and scientific and technical support, said last week.

Ukraine's electricity market discriminates against nuclear power and recent reforms do little to help Energoatom's mounting debts, Petro Kotin, acting president of the state-owned nuclear power plant operator has said. Recent amendments to electricity market regulations enable Energoatom to sell just 5% of its generation through bilateral contracts, but the company wants this to be increased to 50%.

All construction and installation works at the construction site of the Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine is expected to be completed by the end of September. The country’s nuclear power plant operator, Energoatom, announced the new target date following a meeting at the site by its acting president, Petr Kotin, on 15 May in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s upper house of parliament, has adopted a draft law on nuclear safety that enables state-run nuclear power plant operator Energoatom to secure a EUR200 million (USD220 million) loan from Euratom. The parliament said yesterday it had approved "in the second reading and as a whole" draft law №2373 On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Safety of Nuclear Energy Use.

Energoatom will temporarily withdraw from service three of its 15 nuclear power units in line with forecasts of reduced electricity demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The projected balance of electricity production by Ukraine's nuclear power plants this year has decreased by 8.6% to 73.7 terawatt hours, the state-run company said today.

The recent fires in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine have not led to a hazardous increase in air-borne radioactive particles, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on 24 April. The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has regularly provided information on the fires through the IAEA's Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine needs a "few more days" to extinguish the smouldering remnants of a fire "in and around" the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the head of organisation, Mykola Chechotkin, told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a daily conference call today. According to a statement from the President's Office, Zelenskyy has been receiving daily updates on the situation.

A forest fire on the western tip of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine has not affected background radiation levels, state authorities said today.