site.btaKozloduy NPP Celebrates 50 Years since Commissioning of Its First Unit

On September 4, the Kozloduy NPP celebrates the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of its Unit 1.

The Kozloduy NPP was inaugurated on September 4, 1974 by Communist leader Todor Zhivkov. With this, Bulgaria became the first country in Southeast Europe and one of the first in the world to adopt nuclear technology for electricity production.

The introduction of the capacities of the Kozloduy NPP was carried out in three stages. During the first stage, Unit 1(July 24, 1974) and Unit 2(September 27, 1975) were put into operation.

During the second stage, Unit 3 (December 17, 1980) and Unit 4 (May 17, 1982) were put into operation, followed by Unit 5 (November 29, 1988) and Unit 6 (September 8, 1991), which completed the third stage. 

In implementation of commitments undertaken by Bulgaria in the negotiations for the country's accession to the European Union, Unit 1 and Unit 2 of the nuclear power plant were disconnected from the country's energy system on December 31, 2002, according to a decision of the Council of Ministers of December 19, 2002.
At the time of shutdown, Unit 1 was in its 23rd fuel campaign, having produced 66,675,397 megawatt hours of electricity from 1974 to 2002, and Unit 2 was in its 24th fuel campaign, having produced 68 from 1975 to 2002. 905,334 megawatt hours of electricity.

In fulfillment of Bulgaria's obligations under the  Treaty of Accession of the country to the European Union, signed on April 25, 2005, Unit 3 and Unit 4 of the power plant were disconnected from the country's energy system on December 31, 2006, according to a decision of the Council of Ministers of December 21, 2006 
At the time of shutdown, Unit 3 was in its 22nd fuel campaign and from 1980 to 2006 had produced 68,703,260 megawatt hours of electricity, and Unit 4 was in its 21st fuel campaign and from 1982 to 2006. produced 66,711,966 megawatt hours of electricity.

Currently, Kozloduy NPP EAD operates two nuclear power units, Unit 5 and Unit 6.

From the commissioning in 1974 of Unit 1 of the Kozloduy NPP until the end of 2023, the nuclear power plant has produced 699,802,363 megawatt hours of electricity.

The festive programme for the anniversary includes a concert, which will be held in Botev Park in Kozloduy. During the event, awards will be presented for the support of the Ministry of Energy, the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), the Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA), the press centre of the nuclear power plant informed BTA. 

Deputy Energy Minister Krassimir Nenov, Bulgarian Energy Holding Executive Director Valentin Nikolov and NRA Chair Tsanko Bachiyski will attend the celebration.