Ukraine plans nuclear-powered block reward mining facility

The government of Ukraine is contemplating investing in a new block reward mining facility, to take advantage of an excess of nuclear power being generated in the country.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy is reportedly planning the mining center, which could consume as much as two to three gigawatts of energy per day.

The deputy energy minister for digital development, Yevhen Vladimirov, met with ministry officials, as well as private sector partners, to discuss the early stage proposals. State-owned nuclear energy firm Energoatom and mining hardware manufacturer Hotmine were also invited to participate in the talks.

Vladimirov said the proposals would allow the country to make better use of excess nuclear capacity, as well as boosting tax take.

“The idea of creating a data center based on a nuclear power plant, of course, deserves attention because the Ukrainian UES [unified energy system] has unused base capacity.”

“The constant load on nuclear power units could bring additional profit to the state-owned Energoatom and enable businesses to operate, which will also pay taxes to the domestic budget.”

Proposals for the scale of the plant are still being finalized, but at 3 gigawatts capacity, the facility would rival the biggest hydro powered mining farms in China.

According to Hotmine, the proposals will help Ukraine build on its reputation as an emerging center for block reward mining, with the firm suggesting the country’s low cost nuclear power could help it become a world leader in nuclear-powered block reward mining.

The Ministry is now expected to be drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed by the parties, which will set out more specifics on the plan.

The proposals build on work from last May when the acting energy minister Olha Buslavets urged Energoatom to consider monetizing excess capacity through block reward mining.

See also: TAAL’s Jerry Chan presentation at CoinGeek Live, The Shift from Bitcoin “Miners” to “Transaction Processors”