Bulgarian caretaker Minister of Energy Rossen Hristov said that an intergovernmental agreement with the United States and a contract for a feasibility study for the possible construction of a new nuclear units in Bulgaria are expected to be signed in the coming months.
Minister Hristov said that discussions are also underway with the US Department of Energy to sign an intergovernmental agreement that would assist the process as well as provide access to funding.
He added that Bulgaria, based on the results of the feasibility study for the cost of the project and according to the country’s electricity consumption, should decide how many reactors could be built. Most likely, all the information will be available early next year.
At the beginning of 2023, the National Assembly adopted a draft resolution on construction of new nuclear capacity at NPP Kozloduy, which assigned the Council of Ministers to conduct negotiations with the US Government on the conclusion of an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Kozloduy with AP1000 technology.
Regarding the reactors which have been procured for NPP Belene project, the same feasibility study should be carried out, plus an analysis to what extent the existing equipment can be integrated into a common complex. Whether it will be European technology or American remains to be specified.
Minister Hristov said that, based on the expected electricity consumption in Bulgaria in the next 30 years, the proposal is to build four new nuclear reactors, given that there are available sites for so many. He recalled that the existing units 5 and 6 at NPP Kozloduy should be decommissioned around 2050.
