Bulgarian nuclear power plant Kozloduy and Westinghouse Electric Sweden have signed an agreement for the supply of fresh nuclear fuel for the plant’s 1,000 MW unit 5.
The agreement comes as part of NPP Kozloduy’s program for diversification of nuclear fuel supply, which has been coordinated with the EURATOM, and complies with a decision made by the Bulgarian Parliament in November, to accelerate the process of finding an alternative nuclear fuel source.
A similar contract with French Framatome is also being drafted, which is supposed to ensure the supply of nuclear fuel for the Kozloduy’s unit 6. This will achieve complete diversification and security of the supply.
Caretaker Minister of Energy Rossen Hristov said that a major step is being taken to ensure the security and diversification of supply of fresh nuclear fuel. According to him, the contract with Westinghouse is extremely good and beneficial for Bulgaria. Westinghouse now commits to a complex delivery instead of just making fuel assemblies. With the contract Bulgaria has secured the uninterrupted operation of unit 5 of NPP Kozloduy, Minister Hristov concluded.
The term of the contract is 10 years. In 2023, the nuclear fuel will be fully licensed and it is fully compatible with the technology used at NPP Kozloduy. Regarding financial details of the agreement, Minister Hristov said that the price improved considerably during the negotiations, compared to the initial offer received in July, and now the price is equal to that of the Russian supplier TVEL.
