Bulgaria Commits to Kozloduy Nuclear Projects

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Construction of two new nuclear power plants in Bulgaria solidified this week following the signing of contracts between the government and South Korea's Hyundai E&C and U.S engineering firm Westinghouse Electric Company (Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania).

The goal is to build two new units, units 7 and 8, at the country's only nuclear power plant, Kozloduy, located on the banks of the Danube river a few kilometers from the Romanian border. They will use Westinghouse's AP1000 reactors and the plant's construction will be carried out by Hyundai, which is marking its return to international nuclear power construction for the first time since working on the Barakah nuclear power project in the United Arab Emirates 15 years ago.

The first unit will be commissioned in 2035, and the second in 2037. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said: "Bulgaria has 50 years of experience in the safe and secure operation of nuclear facilities. Today, we are building on this experience. Our work with the undisputed leaders Westinghouse and Hyundai on this project is a serious step towards the implementation of one of the government's main priorities related to the development of nuclear energy." The first contracts are worth roughly US$350 million.

Bulgaria gets around one-third of its electricity from two nuclear reactors, units 5 and 6. The VVER-1000 reactors were commissioned in 1987 and 1991 and have since been refurbished and had life extensions awarded to extend their operational lives from 30 years to 60 years. The original four units at Kozloduy were VVER-440 models that the European Commission deemed non-upgradeable in the early 2000s. As part of its accession to the European Union, Bulgaria agreed to shut down both pairs in 2002 and 2006, respectively.

Bulgaria's Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said: "The development of nuclear energy in strict compliance with international standards for safety and environmental protection is one of the main priorities of the government. Our consistent efforts and active work together with our partners at Westinghouse and Hyundai in fulfilling this priority have led to today's result - the signing of an engineering contract for the new facilities. This is a key stage that makes the process irreversible."

Earlier this year, Westinghouse delivered the first fuel assemblies for Kozloduy Unit 5 as Bulgaria moves away from Russian fuel supplies as part of wider attempt to reduce its reliance on Russian fuel imports, particularly gas. The alternative fuel is made at Westinghouse's fabrication site in Västerås, Sweden. In July last year, Bulgaria signed a 10-year deal with Westinghouse for future fuel supplies for Unit 5. A similar deal is in place with French supplier Framatome (Courbevoie, France) for supplying fuel to Unit 6.

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