site.btaUPDATED Bulgaria, Czechia to Deepen Cooperation in Nuclear Sector

Bulgarian caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov and Czech Ambassador to Bulgaria Miroslav Toman agreed that Bulgaria's fifty years of experience in operating nuclear capacities is an excellent prerequisite for deepening energy cooperation between the two countries, Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry said in a press release on Thursday. The two sides also agreed that Bulgaria and Czechia face similar challenges in the nuclear energy sector such as building new capacities and diversifying nuclear fuel.

Malinov and Toman underscored that the two countries share the same vision of the importance of nuclear energy for energy security and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

A total of six nuclear reactors are operating in Czechia, four at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and two at the Temelin NPP. They provide about one third of the country's total electricity production.

Nuclear energy plays a major role in national, regional and European energy security. It is a key element for meeting Europe's ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing climate-neutral energy, Malinov said. He briefed Toman on the construction of new nuclear units at the Kozloduy NPP, as well as on the progress made by the government in the nuclear fuel diversification process. Bulgaria has successfully implemented a key stage of the nuclear fuel diversification programme for Kozloduy NPP, Minister Malinov informed. The first cartridges of alternative fuel produced by the US company Westinghouse were loaded into the nuclear power plant in May 2024.

According to the Roadmap approved by the National Assembly, Unit 7 of the Kozloduy NPP should be put into commercial operation in 2035 and Unit 8 - two years later.

Malinov and Toman also discussed natgas supply diversification. In Malinov’s words, the completion of the Vertical Gas Corridor is key to solving the challenges related to the need for diversification and energy security. The project is a strategic initiative linking the gas transmission infrastructure of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova, which aims to improve the security and diversification of sources and routes for transmitting natural gas from secure sources in a south-north direction.