Parliament greenlights nuclear project with US technology

published on 3/14/24 3:01 PM

АЕЦ Козлодуй

Photo: BTA, archive

With 149 votes in favour, 50 against and three abstentions, Parliament ratified in first reading the agreement between Bulgaria and the United States for cooperation on the project for the construction of nuclear power at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant site and Bulgaria's civil nuclear programme. The opposition parties - Vazrazhdane and the BSP - reacted strongly to the decision. The BSP described it as a servile act that violated all EU principles.

Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant, Kozloduy, currently has two operating Russian-made reactors. In December 2022, Westinghouse signed a 10-year contract to supply fresh nuclear fuel for one of the units from its manufacturing plant in Västerås, Sweden, and deliveries will start in a month's time.

he Minister of Energy is required to take all steps to make a positive decision on the construction of new AR1000 nuclear power capacity using Westinghouse technology, according to parliamentary decisions in January and December 2023.

In an interview with BNT, Kozloduy NPP executive director Valentin Nikolov said that the plant's new units - No 7 and No 8 - would cost less than 30 billion leva (15 billion euro), of which 20% would be self-financed and the rest from loans. Westinghouse is expected to announce the price at the end of this month. Unit 7 is expected to be operational in 2034 and unit 8 2-3 years later. No AP1000 units have yet been built in Europe.

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Parliament greenlights nuclear project with US technology

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