By replacing Russia with a US company as supplier of nuclear fuel, Ukraine endangers the health of its citizens and other peoples in Europe, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Ukraine signed in Brussels earlier on Tuesday an agreement to buy nuclear fuel for its Soviet- and Russian-made reactors from the US company Westinghouse.

"This dangerous experiment, attempted by Kiev, puts in danger the safety and health of Ukrainian citizens and peoples of Europe," the ministry said in a statement.

"It seems that the lessons of the Chernobyl tragedy have not taught the Kiev authorities to follow a responsible and scientifically-sound approach to the use of nuclear energy," the statement said.

Nuclear energy experts and officials have repeatedly warned the Ukrainian authorities that it would be unsafe to use US-made fuel in reactors of Soviet and Russian design.

In its Tuesday statement the Russian Foreign Ministry said that while steps to win new nuclear fuel markets don't go against long established international practices "in the case with Westinghouse there is a rush, unacceptable for nuclear power issues and negligence towards the nuclear safety requirements."

The Russian Foreign Ministry added that Kiev had no reason to worry about the reliability of its Russian nuclear fuel supply. "[Russian] state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom conducts regular and uninterrupted supplies of fuel to Ukrainian nuclear power stations," the ministry said.

Currently, nuclear power plants generate about 47 percent of Ukraine's electrical power. The rest is produced by thermal power stations by burning gas and coal, as well as by hydroelectric power stations and green power.

Gas shortages and a halt in work at 80 percent of Donbas mines due to conflict in the area have led to deficit of energy and, as a consequence, electricity.

Yatsenyuk: Ukraine About to Sign Agreement to Buy More US Nuclear Fuel
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 30, 2014 - Ukraine is about to sign an agreement to buy more nuclear fuel for its Soviet- and Russian-made reactors from the US company Westinghouse, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Tuesday.

Nuclear energy experts and officials have repeatedly warned the Ukrainian authorities that it would be unsafe to use US-made fuel in reactors of Soviet and Russian design.

"Today, an agreement with Westinghouse to increase nuclear fuel supplies to Ukrainian nuclear power plants is being signed in Brussels," Yatsenyuk said.

In September, Ukraine gave the green light to its nuclear power plants to receive supplies of upgraded nuclear fuel from Westinghouse, a move criticized by the Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom as a political one.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine, including cooperation on nuclear energy, have soured amid the conflict in Ukraine, which prompted Kiev's turn to US nuclear fuel makers for some of its power plants.

This decision has raised security concern after the fuel sourced from Westinghouse had dangerously malfunctioned at power plants in the Czech Republic. In 2006, a Czech nuclear power plant operating Soviet-designed reactors experienced depressurization with the Westinghouse fuel, leading to its suspension of cooperation with the company.

Source: Sputnik News