KIEV, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom said on Monday it has launched a project to build two new modern power units at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant (KhNPP) in western Ukraine.

Power units 5 and 6 at the KhNPP will become the first power units in Ukraine using the AP-1000 technology, Energoatom said in a statement.

Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said that a special feature of the AP-1000 technology, developed by the U.S.-based nuclear power company Westinghouse Electric, is the ability to balance the units.

"Today, the enemy is attacking and destroying the balancing capacities of the Ukrainian energy sector, so the construction of units with the ability to maneuver is very important for us," Galushchenko said at the ceremony to lay the first cube of concrete of unit 5.

The construction of each unit will take approximately four to five years and will cost about 5 billion U.S. dollars, according to Energoatom.