Energoatom orders additional protection for Rivne Nuclear Power Plant only at end of September, media reports

Ukraine’s state nuclear energy agency Energoatom signed on Sept. 25 a contract worth Hr 509 million ($12.3 million) for the design and construction of a protective structure at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian investigative media outlet Nashi Groshi reported on Sept. 30.
The outlet noted that the agreement was concluded only after President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24 that Russia was preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants and that the infrastructure around the plants was not properly protected.
The protective structures around the plants include U-shaped structures that shield large transformers from drones and shrapnel damage in the event of an indirect missile hit, Nashi Groshi said.
Energoatom signed the contract via Prozorro, Ukraine’s electronic public procurement system, designed to increase transparency and competition in the bidding process, Nashi Groshi reported.
The outlet also said that the contract itself was not published on Prozorro, so details about how many and how large the structures that are to be built under this new contract will be are unknown.
For comparison, Ukrainian state grid operator Ukrenergo recently signed contracts worth Hr 98 million ($2.3 million) and Hr 120 million ($2.9 million) for structures that protect one transformer, Nashi Groshi reported.
Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the former head of Ukrenergo, said in an interview with Suspilne after his recent dismissal that more than 60 of the company’s facilities have these types of protective structures.
According to Kudrytskyi, these structures helped Ukrenergo recover from a mass Russian attack on Aug. 26.
Russia launched nine coordinated attacks against Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure between March and the end of August, striking facilities in 20 oblasts.
According to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report, Ukraine’s electricity shortage could reach 6 gigawatts this winter due to the attacks, which is about one-third of the expected peak demand.
This summer, the power shortage was 2.5 GW when Kyiv was already experiencing long blackouts.
There are three operating nuclear power plants on Ukrainian-held territory: the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi plants in the country’s west and the Pivdennoukrainsk plant in the south. Russia’s regular attacks cut off power to the units, putting their safety in jeopardy.
According to the Energy Ministry, nuclear generation currently accounts for up to 60% of the country’s electricity consumption.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.