The Parliamentary Energy Committee on Wednesday rejected a draft decision proposed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) to halt negotiations and actions concerning the sale of long production cycle equipment owned by the National Electricity Company (NEK), intended for the NPP Belene project. Additionally, the Committee turned down a draft proposal from the There Is Such a People party to direct the caretaker Energy Minister to delay the sale of steam generators from the NPP Belene equipment to Ukraine until an analysis could determine their potential use at NPP Kozloduy.
Caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov suggested extending the negotiation period with the Ukrainian side by 180 days, stating that Ukraine has confirmed its interest in purchasing the equipment, with or without one steam generator.
Tsanko Bachiyski, Chairman of the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency, noted an increase in incidents with the steam generator at unit 6 of NPP Kozloduy since 2021, linked to a specific section of the third steam generator. NPP Kozloduy CEO Ivan Andreev mentioned that replacing a steam generator in a Russian VVER reactor takes four months and acknowledged small design differences between the steam generator from NPP Belene and those at NPP Kozloduy, which require further analysis. He also revealed that NPP Kozloduy is in discussions with Slovakian counterparts, who have encountered similar issues, and has consulted with the Spanish company Tecnatom, which assists in diagnostics and controls at the plant.
