U.S. energy secretary advises Kyiv to boost its energy independence (06/05/05)

U.S. energy secretary advises Kyiv to boost its energy independence

by Olga Nuzhinskaya
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - In what appeared to be a recognition of Ukraine's continued vulnerability to fuel shutoffs from Russia and other suppliers, Samuel Bodman, the top energy official of the U.S., met in Kyiv on May 27 with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to declare that Ukraine must boost its energy independence and diversify sources.

After talks with U.S. Energy Secretary Bodman, who arrived in the Ukrainian capital on May 26, Ms. Tymoshenko said, "the issue of diversification of energy supply resources is of the utmost importance."

Fuel shortages had erupted in Ukraine earlier in May after Russian oil exporters reduced supplies to this country of 48 million. Prime Minister Tymoshenko herself came under fire over her attempts to institute restrictive fiscal and monetary policies, which were blamed for the shortages.

But Ukrainian authorities also seized the opportunity to seek alternative fuel and crude oil sources in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Libya and elsewhere.

After meeting President Viktor Yushchenko on May 26, Secretary Bodman said that U.S. President George W. Bush "is very committed to help Ukraine to increase its energy independence, diversify its energy trade and restructure its energy sector into a more robust part of the economy. It is one of the reasons I am here this week."

Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Bodman also discussed replacement of Russian-made nuclear fuel in the country's 15 operational nuclear reactors with fuel rods produced by the U.S.-based Westinghouse company.

"We welcome activities tailored to diversify sources of nuclear fuel, and we believe that such activities will improve our energy independence," Ms. Tymoshenko told reporters.

Earlier this month, Ms. Tymoshenko ordered Energoatom, the company that runs the operations of Ukraine's nuclear industry, to conduct a feasibility study for a domestic nuclear fuel reprocessing program. She said that the company should boost domestic production of uranium and zirconium, both components of nuclear fuel rods.

After meeting with Mr. Bodman, the Ukrainian prime minister invited American companies "to take part in the development of Ukrainian uranium mines, in the overhaul of thermal power plants, geological surveys and oil and gas production."

Ukraine's uranium industry is based on large deposits in the Kirovohrad region. The country is currently developing three uranium fields in Vatutinskoye, Michurinskoye and Tsentralnoye.

Uranium is produced by the Vostochny ore dressing works, with Russia's TVEL Corp. as its major customer.

Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Bodman also reviewed efforts to build a new structure that will cover the crumbling concrete and steel sarcophagus hastily erected over the destroyed reactor at Chornobyl, which exploded and burned in 1986 in the world's worst nuclear disaster.

In addition to the European Union's financial aid programs aimed at upgrading safety at Ukrainian nuclear power plants and for the handling of nuclear waste, Western countries, including the United States, pledged additional funds at a recent donor conference in London for a new, more permanent shelter over the current structure.

Mr. Bodman and Petro Poroshenko, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, on May 27 discussed the conversion of some Ukrainian reactors to the use of low-enriched uranium. Such a conversion would lower the risk of accidents and possible leakage of nuclear components to terrorists.

On May 26 Secretary Mr. Bodman and David Zhvanya, Ukraine's minister for emergency situations, signed an agreement that would allow the U.S. Office of Global Radiological Threat Reduction to work more closely with its Ukrainian counterparts on improvements in the security of nuclear waste.

Many Western countries have expressed fear that poorly guarded Ukrainian nuclear waste could be used by terrorists to make a dirty bomb, a device that uses conventional explosives to disperse radioactive material and contaminate large areas.

"This Implementing Arrangement is a significant step forward in our partnership to safeguard these radioactive materials and advance the security of the region," Mr. Bodman told reporters.

Presidents Bush and Yushchenko, who met in Washington earlier this year had, pledged cooperation "between our two nations to promote nuclear safety, security of nuclear materials, and non-proliferation," Mr. Bodman noted as he began his visit to Ukraine.

"I'm proud to be in Ukraine to strengthen the cooperation of our two nations on energy and nuclear security issues. And I'm proud because many of us in the United States see a number of parallels between the events that unfolded here this past winter, and the American Revolution of 1776," stressed Secretary Bodman.

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