Scandalous draft law on construction of KhNPP withdrawn from consideration by Verkhovna Rada

Scandalous draft law on construction of KhNPP withdrawn from consideration by Verkhovna Rada shutterstock

Anna Velyka

In addition to public opposition, the calculations regarding the completion turned out to be outdated

On June 17, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy, Housing and Utilities supported the draft law on the completion of Khmelnytsky Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP) Units 3 and 4 for the first reading, but it was removed from the Verkhovna Rada agenda.

The results of the meeting were reported on the committee's website.

The meeting was attended by 14 MPs, 12 of whom supported the decision to send the draft law to the session hall, while 2 abstained.

"We understand that there are blocks in which the terms of operation will expire faster than in others. And if something will be decommissioned, then something else must also be added to the network," commented the head of the committee Andrii Gerus on this decision.

As it turned out, Energoatom NAEC submitted calculations for 2018 regarding the completion of nuclear power units, so the head of the committee asked the company's management to provide up-to-date calculations.

According to Andriy Zhupanin, a member of the energy committee, the draft law on the completion of the Khao NPP was removed from the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada and will not be considered this week. He says that the parliament "could not ignore the outcry that arose around this proposal." Zhupanin also claims that the Verkhovna Rada does not yet have votes for this document, as some factions have clearly stated that they will not support the draft law on the purchase of reactors produced by Rosatom.

Zhupanin himself stated that he categorically does not support this draft law, calling it harmful to the interests of the state. His position on Facebook was publicly supported, in particular, by the head of the Bioenergy Association, Georgy Heletukha, ex-head of OGTSU, Serhiy Makogon, managing partner of the consulting company Imepower, which works, in particular, in the field of "green" energy, Yuriy Kubrushko.

As EcoPolitic reported in May, 19 public organizations, associations and centers of environmental orientation spoke out against the completion of the Khmelnytsky NPP.

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