Bulgaria's Kozloduy NPP, Westinghouse sign deal on potential new reactor

Westinghouse Electric and Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild (KNPP–Newbuild), a special project company owned by Kozloduy NPP, signed a front-end engineering design contract for a new reactor, the US company said in a press release on Thursday.

The signing comes after Westinghouse and Kozloduy in March inked a memorandum of understanding on the project.

"We are pleased to begin work to deliver the world’s most advanced, Generation III+ reactor technology to provide clean and reliable baseload energy for our customer and the people of Bulgaria," David Durham, energy systems president for Westinghouse, said. He added that thanks to Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild, work on the project will be highly localised.

Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant currently operates two Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors of 1000 MW each, Unit 5 and Unit 6. Their operational licences will expire in 2027 and 2029, respectively.

A new AP1000 reactor could be switched on in late 2032, if a final investment decision is taken no later than the first half of 2024, a Westinghouse official earlier told SeeNews.

In late 2022, Bulgaria agreed with Westinghouse a ten-year supply contract ensuring the delivery of fresh nuclear fuel for its Unit 5 starting from 2024. Fuel for the other reactor, Unit 6, is to be supplied by Framatome, part of French state-backed energy group EDF under a separate agreement.

Westinghouse will supply the fuel, the only fully Western option to Russian deliveries, out of its fabrication site in Sweden, it has said. To this end, Westinghouse in April formally engaged as subcontractors Canadian uranium producer Cameco and UK-based nuclear fuel consortium Urenco.