Sofia wants to end dependence on Russia
Bulgaria’s Kozloduy-5 nuclear power plant has been granted permission for a phased transition to the use of nuclear fuel produced by Westinghouse Electric in Sweden, according to the plant's director Valentin Nikolov.
He told Bulgarian National Radio that that there is no risk of any interruptions in operation due to the switch from the current Russia-made fuel to the Westinghouse fuel.
Nikolov said there are no expected delays in the delivery of the new fuel, which is scheduled to be loaded at Kozloduy-5 during a planned outage in May.
According to Nikolov, Bulgaria’s second commercial reactor unit, Kozloduy-6, is scheduled to receive new fuel supplied by France’s Framatome “post-2025”. He said the unit has enough fuel stored to ensure operation until 2029.
There are two Russia-designed 1,000-MW VVER units at Kozloduy in northwest Bulgaria in commercial operation since 1988 and 1993. They are Bulgaria’s only commercial nuclear power plants, although Sofia has announced plans for two new Westinghouse AP1000 units at the site.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Bulgaria accelerated plans to lessen its dependence on Russian nuclear fuel.
The country’s contract with Russia’s state-owned Tvel fuel manufacturer was set to expire at the end of 2024 and will not be extended.
