KIEV, June 18 - Ukraine will next year start production of uranium from Novokonstantynivske, one of the country's largest uranium deposits, as the government seeks to increasingly rely on nuclear energy over the next decade.

Ukraine, which holds the world's No. 9 reserves of uranium, plans to spend at least $5 billion over the next four years in the mining of uranium, according to EnergoAtom, the state nuclear power generator.