(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Energoatom said this in a statement on media interpretations concerning the operation of the second reactor at the plant, Ukrinform reports.

"Since 2022, Unit 2 of the Khmelnytskyi NPP has been operating with a damaged turbine, which is missing the working blades of the fifth stage of the high-pressure cylinder (HPC). They were destroyed during start-up tests after scheduled maintenance," the statement reads.

The company noted that specialists undertook all necessary technical measures, involving the country's leading scientific institutions, to restore the turbine's maximum possible electrical output after the damage. Currently, the unit can produce up to 900 MW of electricity, which is 100 MW below its nominal capacity.

In addition, Energoatom is already implementing measures to procure a new, modernized HPC rotor, which would not only restore the unit's design capacity but also increase it by 40 MW, to 1,040 MW.

"The current reduction in the unit's output is due to instructions from Ukrenergo's dispatcher. This is not a technical problem but the result of large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system in November. The reduction is carried out solely on the orders of the system operator to balance the grid after airstrikes," Energoatom stressed, calling on politicians and the media to refrain from manipulating the topic of nuclear energy, especially during wartime.

Read also: Two Ukrainian NPPs reduce output after Russian attack – IAEA

Earlier, MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak of the Holos party wrote on Facebook that Unit 2 of the Khmelnytskyi NPP had been operating below capacity for three years, causing a shortfall of about 500 MW in the energy system.

According to Zhelezniak, open tenders for the supply of a high-pressure cylinder rotor for the turbine were repeatedly disrupted. The first procurement was announced by the Ministry of Energy under then-minister German Galushchenko. Bidders included a foreign company allegedly connected to the Russian market and the state-owned enterprise Ukrenergymachines. The latter challenged the tender conditions. In the second tender, the state-owned enterprise won with a bid priced twice as low (about UAH 298 million). However, since such terms did not allow for the expected "10-15% homework," Energoatom simply canceled the tender for turbine repair, citing "lack of funds."

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