Bulgaria Tries to Strengthen Nuclear Energy Capacity with Kozloduy Unit

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Bulgaria wants to increase the output capacity of its sole nuclear power plant at Kozloduy near the Romanian border. The plant has notified the Nuclear Regulatory Agency in Sofia about its plans to raise capacity, which will require a licensing change. Sergei Tsochev, the regulator's president, told Novonite agency reporters that the agency will be able to issue the new license by the end of 2013, if Kozloduy supplies all the necessary documents in time.

The plant currently operates two pressurized water reactors with a total output of 2,000 megawatts (MW). There needs to be a request for approval to extend the operational life of the plant's two reactors for four years, before they are due to expire in 2017 and 2019. This is after the nearly 30 years that the plant has been in service. Bulgaria will seek to extend the two Russian-made units' operation by 10 years, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said in June 2012.

"Investors have shown a considerable interest in the potential construction of a seventh unit in Bulgaria's Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant," said Valentin Nikolov, Kozloduy CEO. "It was made clear that Westinghouse Electric Company has received a contract to perform a feasibility study on Kozloduy's potential Unit 7."

Kozloduy, which supplies some 40% of Bulgaria's electricity, passed stress tests examining its resistance to earthquakes, floods, extreme temperatures and other natural disasters, the regulator said.

In March 2012, Bulgaria said it was abandoning a project for a new 2,000-MW nuclear power plant at Belene, on the Danube, to be built by Russian company AtomStroyExport.

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