The destabilizing effects of the situation in Ukraine

April 11, in a crisis, Westinghouse and the Ukrainian Energoatom (state-owned company that provides electricity to the country) have signed an agreement to extend until 2020 (in perspective for all 15 existing nuclear power plants a) the supply of nuclear fuel to be part of American society, rather than the Russian TVEL-Rosatom (the designer of the plant).

The question, beyond the political and commercial consequences that this implies reversal in the face, it will have effects on the functioning of the Ukrainian reactors (VVER all, the Russian variant of the pressurized water reactors) because the fuel manufactured at the plant of Westinghouse Vasteras (Sweden) might not have the same performance (in terms of safety) of that produced in Russia. The substantial differences concern both the configuration of the pads of uranium (Russian ones of the latest generation have a central hole), both the composition of the metal alloy with which the sheath is manufactured that contains. Not surprisingly, the power company Cez (Czech republic) after testing a decade ago, the fuel in the reactor Westhinghouse Temellin, returned to source from TVEL.

On another side is there to record the ascent of the General Electric French Alstom, an operation that threatens the future of the French nuclear industry and, consequently, the entire economy of the country, given the importance assigned to this sector by all governments have occurred in France since the war. In fact, with this acquisition, the Ge eliminates a direct competitor in the field of electromechanical energy, but it also poses a mortgage on the future of Areva (designer-builder of reactors French) as the majority partner subtracts the technical-industrial complex (Alstom) to which Areva entrusted the realization of all the conventional part of nuclear power plants.

The destabilizing effects of the situation in Ukraine are having the first repercussions sull'assetto European Energy Use for the benefit of multinational corporations and is difficult to predict which European country will come out unscathed. Certainly not France, a cast in "monoculture" that nuclear discounts for the more you miss alliances with strategic partners (Siemens is the output from the project EPR), which, however, did Westinghouse and GE, respectively, in alliance with Toshiba and Hitachi. In this context, it is almost a foregone conclusion that Hollande approve the extension of the operating life of 50-60 years of French reactors, 27 of which are in operation for 30 years, as required by Edf.

This will have incalculable risks for the safety of the population since the stress tests performed after Fukushima are nothing but probabilistic simulations that can not fully assess the overall effect of the aging of the plants and irradiation on materials.