Bulgaria, US Westinghouse, French EDF To Cooperate On New Nuclear Reactors - Reports

Bulgaria will sign contracts on the building of two nuclear power units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with US company Westinghouse and on the construction of two units at the new Belene NPP with France's Electricite de France (EDF), Bulgarian media reported on Tuesday, citing Deputy Energy Minister Elenko Bozhkov

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th March, 2023) Bulgaria will sign contracts on the building of two nuclear power units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with US company Westinghouse and on the construction of two units at the new Belene NPP with France's Electricite de France (EDF), Bulgarian media reported on Tuesday, citing Deputy Energy Minister Elenko Bozhkov.

The Bulgarian official told journalists that the government and Westinghouse were planning to sign an engineering contract on the building of two AP 1000 reactors at the Kozloduy NPP, with the talks between the parties being at "a very advanced stage" and the units expected to be ready by 2045.

In turn, the contract between Bulgaria and France's EDF will cover the construction of two units with a capacity of 1,000 MW at the Belene NPP, using French technologies, the Bulgarian news Agency (BTA) reported, citing Bozhkov. Under the contract, the French company will help Bulgaria build the units using Russian equipment for VVER-1000 reactors, BTA added.

A delegation of EDF specialists will travel to Bulgaria in April to meet with caretaker Bulgarian Energy Minister Rossen Hristov and visit the site of the Belene NPP project to assess the available equipment and existing infrastructure, according to the deputy minister.

In late December, the Kozloduy NPP and Westinghouse signed an agreement on nuclear fuel supply.

Kozloduy, Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant, was built with the active participation of the Soviet Union and put into operation in 1974. It is one of the largest NPPs in Eastern Europe, but in 2006, Bulgaria was forced to shut down the first four power units of this plant, which operated older VVER-440 reactors, in order to fulfill requirements for joining the European Union. At present, the nuclear power plant is operating the fifth and sixth units built by the Soviet Union using VVER-1000 reactors with an installed electrical power capacity of 1,000 MW each.

The initial site works for the Belene NPP began in 2008. However, the project faced financial problems and was suspended in 2012. However, the Bulgarian government stated in January that it intended to build four new nuclear power units by 2045, including two at the Belene NPP.