KIEV, January 26. /TASS/. Security at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants has been enhanced by elements of missile defense, Sergei Bozhko, the chief of Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulation Inspection, said on Monday.
He said that despite the conflict in eastern Ukraine it is not right to shut down nuclear power plants in the country, since they supply electricity to more than a half of Ukraine’s electricity users.
“Today, some 60% of electricity is being generated by nuclear plants,” he said at a roundtable meeting on issues of security at nuclear facilities. If all Ukraine’s nuclear units were stopped, the country would face a collapse, he said.
In such conditions, the country’s leaders are taking measures to enhance security at nuclear plants. “Missile defense of nuclear power facilities has been tightened, additions systems have been installed,” he said, adding that like other facilities, nuclear power plants were not designed to be operated during warfare.
Nuclear energy in Ukraine
Nuclear power occupies one of the most prominent places in the Ukrainian economy. Over recent years, having only 22.8% of the installed capacity, nuclear power plants during autumn and winter maximum loads generated about 53% of the country's electricity. Currently there are 15 operating power units at four Ukrainian NPPs.
They are operated by the state-run company Energoatom.
The Zaporizhia nuclear plant with an installed generating capacity of 6,000 megawatt is the biggest energy facility in Ukraine and Europe. It generates about 50% of electricity produced by Ukraine’s nuclear plants and accounts for more than 22% of the aggregate electricity generation in the country.