U.S.-Ukraine Conference on Nuclear Trade and Cooperation
Conference Report

(Prepared November 19, 1998)

Rose Gottemoeller, director of DOE's Office of Nonproliferation and National Security, challenged conference participants to establish foreign investment opportunities in Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in coordination with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, hosted a U.S.-Ukraine Conference on Nuclear Trade and Cooperation on November 9 and 10 in Washington D.C. The conference brought together commercial interests from both countries to discuss and improve understanding about opportunities for nuclear commerce. The conference was part of DOE's efforts to help the Ukrainian private sector develop and commercialize nuclear technologies and products in cooperation with U.S. industry.

Dr. Terry Lash, director, DOE's Office of International Nuclear Safety and Cooperation, provided the welcoming address to approximately 200 Ukrainian and American participants at the first-ever U.S.-Ukraine Conference on Nuclear Trade and Cooperation.

Rose Gottemoeller, director of DOE's Office of Nonproliferation and National Security, was keynote speaker for the United States. Ms. Gottemoeller emphasized the value of international partnership and the need for expanded cooperation between nuclear sectors in the United States and Ukraine.

She underscored the message delivered by U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma during the July 1998 U.S.-Ukraine Binational Commission meeting in Kyiv, in saying that "Over the past eight years we have worked together in the area of improved nuclear safety. We are now poised and ready to move forward with greater diligence toward a relationship of mutual commercial benefit. This is our single focus."

Ukraine's First Deputy Minister Mikhail Umanets listens as Yuri Kostenko, chairman of Ukraine's parliamentary subcommittee on nuclear power, discusses information presented at the conference .

Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Energy, Mikhail Umanets, led the 50-person Ukrainian delegation and spoke on new directions in the Ukrainian nuclear sector. Speaking about Ukraine's desire to expand its nuclear program and eventually replace some if its Soviet-designed reactors with Western units, Umanets said that he was convinced Ukraine could not reach these goals without the involvement of U.S. companies.

Approximately 150 U.S. government officials and nuclear industry representatives heard about 20 technical and commercial presentations by officials from Ukrainian nuclear firms and institutes, many based in the eastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine. Much attention is being given to developing Kharkiv as a center for advanced commercial nuclear technology. Kharkiv is being considered as the location for a conference follow-on activity in mid-1999.

David Marcelli, Duke Engineering and Services, looks over his notes prior to giving a presentation on Working in the Business Environment of Ukraine at the special 1/2-day session for Ukrainians.

The conference began with a special half-day session on the U.S. nuclear industry for Ukrainian participants only. The session featured informative overviews by a broad range of individuals who represent different nuclear industry sectors in the United States. The session was designed to help Ukrainian participants understand better what the U.S. market is looking for, and to familiarize them with principles of international investment, finance, and liability, as well as U.S. regulatory requirements when marketing to the U.S. nuclear sector.

The balance of the conference was open to all participants, U.S. and Ukrainian. It began with an introductory overview on the Ukrainian nuclear industry by Yuri Kostenko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament's Subcommittee on Nuclear Power, and a presentation on opportunities for U.S. nuclear commerce by Richard Stratford, U.S. Department of State.

Following the technical presentations, which concluded late November 10, DOE arranged for the Ukrainian attendees to participate in three-day visits to U.S. nuclear firms and sites around the United States. U.S. firms hosting these visits included Westinghouse Electric Company (both Pittsburgh and the Utah zirconium facility), Duke Engineering & Services (North Carolina), General Electric, Burns & Roe Enterprises, Scientech, the Electric Power Research Institute, Motorola, Morrison Knudson, Siemens, Bechtel, and WahChang of Portland. DOE national laboratories serving as hosts were Pacific Northwest National Laboratory at Hanford, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Savannah River Radioecology Laboratory.

Preliminary feedback on the conference and visits to U.S. nuclear firms has been positive. Additional input from conference participants will be solicited and compiled into a final report for presentation to the conference hosts.

Departing Ukrainian Ambassador Yuri Shcherbak (left) confers with Mikhail Umanets, Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Energy, at a reception hosted by the Ambassador at the Ukrainian Embassy.