site.btaKozloduy N-plant to Submit Documents for Extending Service Life of Power Unit Six

Sofia, July 25 (BTA) - The Kozloduy nuclear power plant is to submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency the full package of application documents for extending the service life of power unit six for another ten years, it emerged at a briefing in the Energy Ministry on Wednesday. The briefing presented the results of the completion of the project for extension of the generating unit's service life.

Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova said that extending the service lives of power units five and six at Kozloduy is one of the priorities in the sector.

Petkova recalled that the Kozloduy N-plant satisfies 33 per cent of the power consumption in Bulgaria and is a guarantor of the country's energy security. She said that late last year, the work for granting a new ten-year license to power unit five was completed.

The Energy Minister said that the planned measures for extending the life of power unit six are 227. Of them, 138 will be implemented by the end of July. Seventy other measures will be carried out by the end of the year, and the remaining 19, in the next licensing period. Petkova noted that all the measures are paid for by the plant, which in 2017 reported a profit of 117 million leva.

ROSATOM First Deputy Director General for Corporate Development and International Business Kiril Komarov said that power unit six of the Kozloduy N-plant can be safely operated for another 30 years. Komarov said this is proved by the more than 200 implemented actions and measures for extending the unit's life.

Asked whether ROSATOM is interested in the future construction of the restarted project for the Belene N-plant, Komarov said that in principle the Russian company has an interest in the project, but that the conditions for implementing the project must be clear. He said that nowhere in the world are such major energy project implemented without the participation of the State. The Russian official said also that it is another matter what form such State participation can take, and that these issues are decided by the government of the respective country.