Sofia aims to end nuclear power dependence on Russia
The Bulgarian Agency for Nuclear Regulation (ANR) has issued a permit to Unit 5 of the Kozloduy nuclear power station to start using Westinghouse-made nuclear fuel type RWFA as lead assemblies arrive onsite, a statement by the plant management said.
Bulgaria’s caretaker energy minister Vladimir Malinov said that the first delivery of fresh nuclear fuel produced by Westinghouse Electric Sweden is already at Kozloduy, according to BTA reports.
Prime minister Dimitar Glavchev and Malinov have both welcomed the receipt of the first 43 assemblies of the RWFA nuclear fuel for Kozloduy-5, a Russia-designed VVER pressurised water reactor unit.
Kozloduy confirmed in a statement it received the first fuel assemblies on 20 April. The fuel will be loaded into the reactor core during the planned annual outage in early May.
The successful upload will mark the start of the unit’s four-year transition to Westinghouse-made fuel, putting into action efforts to step away from Russian nuclear fuel imports.
After Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Bulgaria accelerated plans to lessen its dependence on Russia for energy.
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.
Earlier this year, ANR issued a permit for the storage of fuel pellets at Kozloduy. Today’s permit also determines the requirements for changes in the existing instructions for use of fuel at the site and updates the terms for reporting additional information related to the new fuel’s use “in case a need arises”.
Construction Work For Kozloduy-7 And -8 ‘On Schedule’
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.
Delyan Dobrev, a former deputy energy minister and the chairman of the energy committee in Bulgaria’s parliament, was quoted by BTA as saying that work on the proposed new Units 7 and 8 at Kozloduy is progressing according to the schedule set by the National Assembly.
"This project, unlike Belene [abandoned Russia-supplied new-build project], is structured in the most correct way - we are not ordering equipment without having secured financing, without having a contract and without knowing how much this plant will cost," said Dobrev.
He said what lies ahead in the next one year is negotiating the specific parametres in terms of price, structuring the financing for the entire project, and making a final investment decision that will make the construction of the two units “irreversible”.
According to earlier reports, construction of the first unit should start around the end of 2025.
Prime minister Glavchev and US ambassador to Bulgaria Kenneth Merten, who met in Sofia on 19 April, have confirmed “a fruitful cooperation in joint projects of mutual interest” between Sofia and Washington, the Bulgarian government's press service reported.
Collaboration between the two countries contributes to increasing energy security and diversification of sources and routes of supply not only in Bulgaria, but also in the region, said the press communique.
