Bulatom welcomes the Government's decision to build units 7 and 8 of the Kozloduy NPP

Over the past few years, Bulatom has repeatedly expressed its view that our country needs four new nuclear units in the period up to 2050 - of which two by 2035. That is why we welcome the decision of the Council of Ministers of October 25, 2023, which at the same time, specific actions are being assigned for the construction of unit 7 of the Kozloduy NPP and a decision in principle is being made for the construction of unit 8. This is announced in their position by the Bulgarian Atomic Forum - Bulatom.

This is a correct decision for Bulgaria, the implementation of which will guarantee both the energy security and competitiveness of our country in the long term. It is in line with European and global trends that increasingly recognize the role of nuclear energy as the base energy in the climate-neutral mix.

The transition of Kozloduy NPP - New capacities EAD from the sole ownership of Kozloduy NPP EAD to the majority ownership of Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD and the simultaneous capitalization of the project company with BGN 500 million inspire confidence that the necessary financial resources are being committed and a suitable environment is provided for the creation of a viable project organization that can fully enter the role of Owner of an investment project of this scale.

We admire the setting of 2033 and 2035-2036 as the dates for the commissioning of units 7 and 8, respectively. These dates are ambitious, but achievable - as long as there is continuity and consistency in the country's nuclear policy in the coming years.

We appeal to our political representation to create the prerequisites for this now by laying down the construction of blocks 7 and 8 in all relevant goal-setting documents - including the Strategy for Sustainable Energy Development, the Integrated Plan in the field of energy and climate and the Road Map for climate neutrality of the Republic of Bulgaria.