Westinghouse, Bulgarian firms partner for new units at Kozloduy NPP

The five Bulgarian companies are Glavbolgarstroy, Oskar-El, Enpro Consult, EnergoService and EQE, Westinghouse said in a press release.

The memoranda of understanding (MoUs) underline the strong potential for Bulgarian suppliers to be involved in the production of key components, including systems for instrumentation and control (I&C) or radiation monitoring, as well as the provision of various engineering, consulting and construction services, Westinghouse noted.

"We have made significant progress in the execution of the contract for preliminary engineering activities for the construction of up to two AP1000 nuclear units at the Kozloduy site," David Durham, president of Energy Systems at Westinghouse, said.

In June, Westinghouse Electric and Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild, a special project company owned by Kozloduy NPP, signed a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for a new reactor at the Bulgarian plant.

Westinghouse's Sofia-based centre of excellence for digital I&C systems is directly responsible for the implementation of process control systems in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, according to the press release. Working with a fully-integrated ecosystem of Bulgarian suppliers, the centre has provided engineering services and solutions for Kozloduy NPP and other nuclear power plants for over a decade.

Last month, the US company signed an engineering services contract with Bechtel and Polish utility Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe for the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant. A number of Central and Eastern European nuclear plant operators are interested in the AP1000 technology, which Westinghouse has already put into operation at Vogtle NPP in the US and is in the process of developing in China.

Earlier this week, Westinghouse said it will perform repairs at Slovenia's Krsko nuclear power plant, which shut down due to a technical fault last week.

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 reactor at Kozloduy could be switched on in late 2032, provided that a final investment decision is taken in the first half of 2024, a Westinghouse official told SeeNews earlier this year.