site.btaWestinghouse Continues Talks with Bulgaria on New Nuclear Reactor

Westinghouse Continues Talks with Bulgaria on New Nuclear Reactor

Sofia, April 2 (BTA) - Westinghouse Electric Company said that
despite the expiry of a tentative agreement on building a new
nuclear reactor unit at Bulgaria's Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant,
 discussions on the matter will continue, M3 Communications
Group reported on Thursday. Westinghouse President and Chief
Executive Officer Danny Roderick was quoted by M3 as saying that
 the decision was made jointly by all parties concerned and
reflects the current conditions in Bulgaria for supporting an
infrastructure project of this magnitude.

A non-binding agreement on building Reactor Unit 7 at Kozloduy
using a Westinghouse technology was announced in August 2014 and
 expired on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov
 told Parliament that Bulgaria cannot afford to reconfirm the
agreement. The news media quoted an unidentified source as
saying that the US company had turned down Bulgaria's offer to
have a 49 per cent stake in the future Unit 7 and provide a
matching share of the financing necessary to build the new
reactor.

In Thursday's press release M3 Communications Group further
quoted Roderick as saying that while everyone agrees that the
project is attractive from a long-term perspective, the parties
believe it is necessary to consider various options for applying
 Westinghouse's AP1000 technology in the future.

Westinghouse is happy with its cooperation with the Kozloduy
Nuclear Power Plant, and in the near future it will focus on
immediate and quantitatively measurable improvements of
Bulgarian nuclear facilities, offering its most up-to-date
technology and using its significant international experience.
The company continues to offer cooperation and technology for
the entire range of activities at Kozloduy, from fuel and
services to decommissioning and waste management, Roderick said.

Eight AP1000 reactors are already under construction: four in
the US and four in China.