site.btaEnergy Minister Expects Analysis on Whether Belene Steam Generators Can Be Used at Kozloduy NPP

Caretaker Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov said on Thursday he will ask for an external expert analysis on whether the steam generators from the abandoned nuclear power plant (NPP) project at Belene can be used at the Kozloduy NPP. Based on the future analysis, he will decide whether the steam generators should be included in the Belene equipment to be sold to Ukraine.

Malinov was replying to a question from the BSP for Bulgaria parliamentary group during a hearing in the National Assembly about the course of the negotiations with Ukraine on the sale of equipment from Belene.

He said that in 2023 the working group for the sale of the Belene equipment asked the Kozloduy NPP management on two occasions to express their opinion on whether they could make use of the steam generators from Belene, but the two answers were contradictory. In connection with the ongoing "preventive scheduled maintenance" of Reactor Unit 6 of the Kozloduy NPP, Malinov asked the plant management to provide information, and they told him that the contemplated building and supply of a new steam generator from Russia for Kozloduy would take four or five years. The Kozloduy NPP has not received confirmation that some other supplier would be able to design, build and deliver a steam generator. The availability of a spare steam generator outside Russia would ensure that the generator at the site of the Kozloduy NPP could be replaced if necessary, the plant said, as quoted by the Energy Minister.

Concerning the negotiations with Kyiv, Malinov said that a group of experts from Bulgaria, Ukraine and the United States visited the Belene site between May 13 and 21 to inspect the nuclear power plant equipment stored there. The draft of a tentative agreement was sent to Ukraine on June 13. Initial comments and proposals by Ukraine's Energoatom were received in Bulgaria on June 25. They are to be analyzed by the working group with the assistance of an international legal consultant.

The Energy Minister said he has no information from Kozloduy about when Unit 6 will be ready to resume operation. "First and foremost, we should guarantee the safe operation of the unit and the safety of the Bulgarian people," he said, replying to a question from MP Radoslav Ribarski (CC-DB) about the deadline for completing the current maintenance session.

Discussing the maintenance, Malinov recalled that on June 14 the Kozloduy NPP wrote on its website that Unit 6 would be stopped on June 15 as its oil system had malfunctioned and there were signs of a coolant leak from a steam generator. The intensity of the leak was within the safety limit. The stoppage was coordinated with the Electricity System Operator (ESO) while taking into account the electricity load of the national power system. The decision to stop the reactor was based on a conservative approach aimed to ensure a high level of safety of Unit 6 and trouble-free supply of electricity throughout the summer.

Kozloduy provided information (including the planned duration of the stoppage) to the ESO and the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange, Malinov said. According to the initial announcement, the stoppage will last until June 30, he added.

The Energy Minister expects a report on the real reasons for what was announced as "preventive scheduled maintenance" of Reactor Unit 6. He said the incident has been recurring over time. He noted that in 2023 Unit 6 was stopped twice on precisely the same grounds. Malinov will require an in-depth analysis, including by external experts if necessary, to reveal the circumstances of the recurrent "preventive" stoppage of the reactor.

According to Malinov, the ongoing maintenance session has involved replacement of the thermal insulation, drying off of metal surfaces and restoration of the anti-corrosion coating where the metal came into contact with radioactive water.