Mykola Kolisnyk: “The Main Trend in the World is Competition for the Latest Technologies”

On 30 September, Kyiv hosted the IV International Conference “Prospects of Introducing Innovations in Nuclear Energy” organized by the Ukrainian Nuclear Society and the Council of Young Scientists of the Department for Physical and Technical Energy Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The conference was devoted to scientific innovations, their implementation in nuclear energy and, of course, the impact of the russian military aggression against Ukraine on the nuclear industry.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine made many countries think how to provide their fuel balance in the coming years, since before that it relied on the resources of the aggressor country, as well as the production of installations and components. For many, the search for alternatives and replacement of these components has become relevant, so each country cooperates both with its own scientific institutions and with international ones. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Mykola Kolisnyk adding that the main trend in the world is competition for the latest technologies.

“At the beginning of the war, with regard to the occupation of our nuclear facilities, destruction, numerous acts of nuclear terrorism, the whole world believed that this could put an end to the further development of the nuclear industry. However, the paradox is that quite the opposite happened. Now, as we see, many countries of the world have started active development of nuclear projects, have accelerated research and development in this area,” Danylo Lavrenov, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Nuclear Society said.

Symbolically, the conference started with a report made by the Director General of the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology Mykola Shulha, who informed about the consequences of the russian invasion of Ukraine for KIPT and the neutron source. In particular, he noted that during the military aggression of the russian federation, more than 100 hits by mines, missiles, shells, etc. were recorded on the territory of the institute. Anatolii Nosovskyi, Director of the Institute for Nuclear Safety Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, informed about the consequences of russian army presence in the Chornobyl exclusion zone emphasizing that with their terrorist actions related to the seizure of nuclear facilities at the Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants, bombing the neutron source site, the russian federation violated all world principles of nuclear safety. Anatolii Nosovskyi noted: “The institute’s research laboratories located in Chornobyl and occupied by russian troops are the only ones in the world that could investigate complex scientific issues of nuclear and radiation safety that arose at emergency nuclear power facilities.” The premises and laboratory equipment were destroyed and looted.

The issue of increasing the NPP preparedness for work in the conditions of hostilities was raised by the Honored Power Engineer of Ukraine Viktor Shenderovych. He emphasized the expediency of developing a document on the improvement of NPP and other nuclear facility preparedness to ensure safety under a military threat, which should reflect the common position of the operating organization, government body and nuclear regulatory body, because the hazard from russia for nuclear facilities can persist for a long period even after the end of the current hostilities. During the report, Viktor Shenderovych drew attention to the activities of spent nuclear fuel storage facilities, operation of NPP units, provision of electricity and additional diesel generators, organization of personnel work, etc.

Taking into account the threats of using nuclear weapons by the russian federation, Stanislav Lytvyniuk, co-founder of System Graphite Company LLC, presented a report on the development of construction materials with anti-radiation and electromagnetic protection properties for civilian facilities, bomb shelters and our nuclear power plants under a nuclear threat and presented a solution based on graphite and carbon materials. For example, in the case of a shock wave, carbon nanotubes significantly increase the reinforcement of concrete, for protection against radiation, it is proposed to use shielding carbon containing additives in construction materials, and in the case of chemical or radioactive contamination – graphite seals, gaskets and adsorbents.

Oleh Hodun, Chief Engineer of the Energoatom Scientific and Technical Center, told about the prospects of introducing small modular reactors in Ukraine and noted that this can provide stability in power grids, replace coal power plants, implement projects for the production of hydrogen and synthetic fuel and even medical isotopes.

For the first time in Ukraine, ImCore national calculation system was developed for NPP in-core monitoring systems, during whose development, up-to-date approaches to labor organization, programming and quality control (Jira, Confluence, Slack systems) were applied using automatic testing and data analysis with the help of Bash and Python programming languages. With the help of the ImCore national calculation system it is possible to calculate parameters of reactor, core state, distribution of energy release, etc. Despite the fact that the war is ongoing in the country, the developers continue to improve the program.

At the same time, during the conference, Acting Director of the MASMA State Fuel Company Oleh Yaroshenko and Director of the Institute of Gas of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Gennadii Zhuk solemnly signed a memorandum of cooperation in implementing a pilot project to develop the basic framework for corporate reporting on greenhouse gas emissions into the environment and form effective strategies for decarbonization of gas companies according to the Green Deal of the European Union.

Uatom.org Editorial Board