site.btaUPDATED Energy Minister Takes Floor as Socialists Add Energy Industry to No-confidence Motion over Cabinet's Defence Policy

Energy Minister Rumen Radev took the floor to speak about the nuclear power industry in Bulgaria after the Socialists added the energy sector to the motives for the no-confidence motion against the government over its defence policy on Wednesday.

The Energy Ministry has taken all steps and actions to update the plan for new nuclear capacities at the Kozloduy N-plant site, which reflect the current design readiness for building units 7 and 8, said Radev.

The minister assured the MPs that the implementation of the investment plans strictly complies with the European and international legislation for new N-plant projects. There is a plan for the start of construction of Unit 7 at Kozloduy. All tendering procedures will be carried out transparently, in accordance with European and national legislation, Radev declared.

He also said: "If the proponents of the no-confidence vote are referring to the project for new nuclear capacities at Belene, the National Assembly has instructed the Minister of Energy to hold talks with its Ukrainian counterpart on the sale of the equipment intended for Belene. If they are referring to supplies of fresh nuclear fuel for Kozloduy of non-Russian origin, it should be specified that under the contract for the supply of nuclear fuel for Unit 5, Westinghouse guarantees that sanctions on the Russian Federation will not affect the supplies."

The actions of the government and the Energy Ministry are aimed at full implementation of the project for new nuclear capacities, he pointed out.

"The permanent monitoring programme for site 2 has been put into operation, a new nuclear facility has been approved for deployment, we have trained highly qualified personnel operating Kozloduy reliably, a national repository for low and medium level waste is being built at the final stage, close to the Kozloduy site," the Minister listed. According to him, the construction of Units 7 and 8 of the plant can successfully replace the decommissioned Units 1 to 4 with a total installed capacity of 1,760 MW and accordingly provide a reliable baseload source of electricity," Radev said adding that the Kozloduy N-plant has existing infrastructure ensuring the operation of six power units.

There is a decision of Parliament of January 12, 2023 and the government, through the Energy Minister, is obligated to take all necessary actions for the construction of a new nuclear power unit - Unit 7 - on the regulator-approved Site 2 of NPP-Kozloduy, the Energy Minister also said. He added that this decision also instructs the government to launch an environmental impact assessment procedure for the construction of a second identical unit - Unit 8 - at the regulator-approved Site 2.