February 17 (SeeNews) - US-based NuScale Power said on Wednesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Kozloduy NPP-New Builds, a subsidiary of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP), to consider deploying NuScale's small modular reactor (SMR) technology at the power plant's location.
"The goal of the agreement is to evaluate NuScale’s SMR technology for its suitability to be deployed at the Kozloduy site," the Portland, Oregon-headquartered company said in a press release. "Under the MoU, NuScale will support Kozloduy NPP-New Builds as they conduct a number of studies and analyses including the development of a project timeline with milestone deliverables for a feasibility study, a project-specific cost estimate, and engineering, planning, licensing, and other activities."
Kozloduy NPP-New Builds, wholly owned by Kozloduy NPP, manages a project for the commissioning of a new nuclear power unit for the production of electricity and heat at the site of the power plant. The project will contribute to the implementation of the common European and Bulgarian policy to improve the energy supply, ensuring energy security of the system and moving towards a low-carbon economy.
In October, Bulgaria's prime minister Boyko Borissov said the government launched a procedure for studying options for the construction of a new unit at the Kozloduy NPP site. Back then, energy minister Temenuzka Petkova proposed to the government to mandate state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding to hold talks with US-based energy companies in order to come up with options for the construction of the new unit - a potential project that will be in line with Bulgaria's long-term strategy for diversification of energy resources.
NuScale's SMR will improve the security of energy supply while adding sufficient value to the national gross domestic product (GDP), Lyuben Marinov, CEO of Kozloduy NPP-New Builds, noted in the press release.
Kozloduy NPP is operating two Russian-made units of 1,000 MW each. Bulgaria had to close down the plant's four older units of 440 MW each prior to the country's accession to the European Union in 2007 in order to address nuclear safety concerns of the European Commission.
Last year, NuScale’s SMR became the first and only design to ever receive approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to the press release. NuScale will be able to deliver its first module to a client in 2027, it said.
NuScale Power is engaged in the development a new modular light water reactor to supply reliable and abundant carbon-free nuclear energy. The company's SMR design features a fully fabricated NuScale Power Module capable of generating 77 MW of electricity using a safer, smaller, scalable version of pressurized water reactor technology, information published on NuScale's website showed.
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