site.btaUPDATED Kozloduy NPP Executive Director Opens 3rd International Nuclear Conference

On Thursday, Kozloduy NPP Executive Director Valentin Nikolov opened the 3rd International Nuclear Conference on "The Opportunities of Nuclear Energy for Decarbonization of the Energy Sector - Technology, Projects, Services". The conference will take place on January 25 and 26 in Sofia.

Thanks to the policies carried out by the Ministry of Energy and the National Assembly, Bulgaria is in one of the leading positions in energy and with the possibility of being among the first countries to introduce the AP1000 technology, Nikolov explained. 

The Kozloduy NPP Executive Director noted that a renaissance is taking place in nuclear energy, because it is currently emission-free. "I think that we are on the right path, and I hope that this time we will see it through to the end," he added.

Nuclear energy is and will be an essential part of the entire decarbonization process in Europe, said Energy Minister Rumen Radev during the opening. He noted that attention and efforts should be directed to solving issues that are important to society, which are not only in the part of building the capacities, because they must be reliable, safe, as well as sustainable for exploitation. "These are questions with difficult answers, with technological challenges, but these are the questions that excite the public in order to have confidence in this technology," said the Minister of Energy.

Radev reported that an assessment of environmental impact procedure has been launched for unit 8 of Kozloduy NPP. A decision should be available within two years. The goal is to have a grid-connected and functioning part of the new capacities of unit 7 of Kozloduy NPP in Bulgaria by 2034, as well as a working unit 8 by 2036 or 2037.

The Minister said that the technology chosen for units 7 and 8 is AP1000. There is already a mandate to sign the intergovernmental agreement between Bulgaria and the USA. Radev hopes that the signing will take place in February.

Radev noted that together with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, a procedure for designing a rail link and connection to the power plant will be launched. Active work is also being done with the academic community, because without the right personnel there is no way to develop nuclear energy in Bulgaria, he added.

A programme for alternative reprocessing of spent fuel from Kozloduy units 5 and 6 outside the Russian Federation is being developed with European partners.

Nikolov told reporters that so far interest in the construction of the 7th unit of Kozloduy NPP has been expressed by Hyundai and Bechtel Corporation. Representatives of Fluor will also visit the site on February 5.

Westinghouse is not involved in the selection of the contractor, only the state is, Nikolov said.

At the moment, there is a decision to select a contractor only for unit 7 of Kozloduy NPP, with Unit 8 to come. In order to avoid a second negotiation, units 7 and 8 will most likely be built by the same contractor, Nikolov said.

One of the main challenges emerging is the lack of sufficient funding for the nuclear sector, said MEP Tsvetelina Penkova of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. She pointed out that much of the funding available under European programmes and budgets is earmarked for safety and decommissioning. Penkova believes that more capital should be made available, in order to develop an innovative nuclear sector in Europe.