Young specialists of the Rivne NPP represented Ukraine in the final of the Innovation 4 Nuclear International Competition (I4N). The competition was held within the framework of the European Nuclear Youth Forum (ENYGF) in Zagreb, Croatia.
The theme of this year’s competition is “Nuclear technologies is an opportunity for economic development”. Ukraine has become an I4N-2025 participant among 11 participating countries, including Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, France, Poland, Belgium, Serbia and Germany. The Ukrainian nuclear team was represented by young employees of the branch “SS “Rivne NPP” of JSC “NNEGC “Energoatom”, members of the Ukrainian Nuclear Society: Yuliia Verba, Eduard Omelchuk, Darya Papezhuk and Roman Basiuk. Rivne nuclear employees presented the project “Nuclear energy as a driver of hydrogen production”, which won the qualification stage of the competition in Ukraine.
“Our project involves the use of excess electricity to produce “green” hydrogen by electrolysis, the integration of innovative technologies, the development of infrastructure for the storage, transportation and use of hydrogen in industry and transport,” Roman Basiuk comments.
During the speech to the jury and other participating teams, young employees of the Rivne NPP prerented the potential of the enterprise as a platform for establishing a comprehensive hydrogen hub.
“In the presentation, we explained to the Europeans the purpose of the project and why the RNPP site is promising for its implementation. In particular, we presented the best scenarios for the use of hydrogen and additional hydrogen projects, for example, the possibility of establishing a hydrogen power plant, and demonstrated a high ESG effect (environmental friendliness, social responsibility and good corporate governance),” Darya Papezhuk says.
“The main message we would like to get across to the European community is that this solution is relevant not only for our country – it can serve as a model for nuclear hydrogen hubs throughout Europe. In fact, by combining the power of nuclear energy with the potential of hydrogen, we are able to form a cleaner, more flexible and sustainable energy system – for Ukraine and Europe,” Yuliia Verba stresses.
“I believe that our team properly represented Ukraine on the international stage. We had a unique opportunity to be heard and hear about the industry achievements of other countries that presented powerful innovations. We express gratitude to Energoatom, the Ukrainian Nuclear Society, and the Rivne NPP for such an opportunity,” Eduard Omelchuk emphasizes.
“We are proud of the youth of the Rivne NPP, they adequately represented our country at a prestigious international competition. The presentation made by them was meaningful, reasoned and very professional. Initiatives of this kind not only contribute to the development of innovations in the industry, but also form a new generation of leaders of the Ukrainian nuclear industry. I am convinced that the future lies with such young people,” Serhii Hutsalo, Head of Separate Subdivision of NGO “Ukrainian Nuclear Society” in the Rivne region, says.
As a result of the competition, Italy won among 11 countries. The winners, scientists of Milan Polytechnic Institute, presented a system based on the BeNEdiCTE detector, which could be used in clinical conditions for real-time monitoring of the dose received during the treatment of malignant tumors with boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT).
It is worth to mention that the European Youth Forum events were held in parallel with the final of the international competition. Therefore, young nuclear employees became listeners of various technical presentations in the nuclear field, panel discussions, and participants of interactive seminars; they had opportunities to communicate with industry experts from different countries of the world. I4N and ENYGF became an international platform for knowledge transfer, discussion, networking and exchange of best practices. The event once again confirmed that nuclear energy, as a low-carbon energy source, could help achieve climate goals, energy security and a positive economic effect.
For reference: The I4N competition has been held for several years in a row by Young Generation Network, youth community of the European Nuclear Society, with the aim of encouraging young industry professionals to create innovative ideas and solutions using nuclear technologies to solve current problems in society, sustainable development and social progress.
