Fuel ministry proposes TVEL and Westinghouse participate in tender to construct nuclear fuel plant

The tender commission at the Fuel and Energy Ministry of Ukraine to select a technology supplier and partner for the construction of a nuclear fuel plant has directed proposals to participate in a tender to Russia's TVEL and U.S. Westinghouse, Fuel Minister Yuriy Prodan told journalists during his working trip to Zhytomyr region on January 25. "The commission has developed tender proposals and sent them to the companies dealing with the technology of fuel element production for our reactors," he said.Earlier, Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko by his order put into effect a decision of the National Security and Defence Council, due to which the fuel ministry was obliged to conduct a tender to select technology and partners for the construction of a nuclear fuel plant in Ukraine. The National Security and Defence Council in its decision partially the defined criteria for selecting a potential partner for the plant's construction.Prodan in November 2009 said that a tender to select the technology supplier for the nuclear fuel plant construction is to be conducted by April 1, 2010.As reported, Ukraine announced plans to launch a plant to produce nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants in 2015. Currently Energoatom is discussing two proposals on the building of the plant: one from Russia's TVEL and the other from Westinghouse (the United States).