site.btaPM Glavchev, US Ambassador to Bulgaria Merten Attend Ceremony Marking Start of Alternative Fuel Use by Kozloduy N-plant

Secure and safe nuclear fuel process and diversification provide more options, said caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (Northwest Bulgaria) on Wednesday. He attended a ceremony marking the start of alternative fuel use by Kozloduy N-plant in its Unit 5. 

The ceremony was also attended by caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov, US Ambassador to Bulgaria Kenneth Merten, representatives of the company Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, which supplied the US-made nuclear fuel for Unit 5, and others.

The loading of the 43 cartridges with new nuclear fuel was completed on Tuesday.

The process of preparing for the switch to Westinghouse fuel began in 2019 with the signing of the contract with the company. Since then, several stages have been passed, and the necessary documents required by the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (BNRA) have been secured, Kozloduy NPP CEO Valentin Nikolov pointed out. On April 22, as a result of positive opinions of the agency's inspectors, permission was granted for a phased transition of Unit 5 from Russian to US fuel, BNRA Chair Tanko Bachiyski said at a briefing in late April.