Kozloduy NPP Prime Minister: No problems are expected with the delivery of non-Russian nuclear fuel next month

The power system is in good condition, has capacity and balancing capabilities when needed. Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov gave this assurance after his visit to Kozloduy NPP with Energy Minister Rumen Radev, the government information service reported.

“We checked what was left as activities from the removal of reactors 1 through 4. We discussed the readiness of the fuel changeover for reactors 5 and 6 and followed how the preparations for the construction of the 7th and 8th units are going. You know this is a long-term task, but the planning is already going at a very high speed," explained the Prime Minister.

The non-Russian fuel is expected to arrive at the Kozloduy NPP site on schedule. "From all the information that was provided, I don't expect any problems in the transition to non-Russian fuel," said Academician Denkov. It is expected that the planned annual repair of the 5th unit of the Kozloduy NPP will begin in the spring. Refueling with non-Russian nuclear fuel delivered from the Westinghouse plant in Sweden is also planned for then. It has not yet been licensed by the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency and cannot be used in the VVER - 1000 unit.

From an engineering and technical point of view, the procedures for the construction of the 7th and 8th blocks are proceeding according to the initial schedule, assured Minister Radev. He added that, in parallel with them, there are also talks about the construction of the necessary road infrastructure, which also includes an alternative railway route.

"For such long-term projects, different lines must run in parallel. Each one of them must be planned without any gaps," the Prime Minister emphasized. Therefore, one of the goals of today's visit to Kozloduy was to discuss what specialists are needed and where to get them. "This task is very important for the development of Kozloduy and the neighboring settlements, because it is obvious that the nuclear power plant, as before and in the future, will be structurally defining for the entire region," said Denkov.

The Prime Minister and Minister Radev held a meeting with the management of the Kozloduy NPP and visited a full-scale simulator for units with VVER 1000 reactors and units 1 to 4. Before that, together with the Minister of Education and Science, Galin Tsokov, they were also at the "Igor V. Kurchatov" Nuclear Energy Vocational High School in Kozloduy.

"With the development of renewable energy sources (RES), with the fact that the Chaira Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plant (PSHP) is still not working, there are certain difficulties, but they are being solved. This is not something we should scare people. Rather, these are tasks that we have to work on, because we expect more RES to join. Their capacity has grown very quickly, and this requires appropriate technical solutions," Denkov also commented, quoted by BTA.

The outgoing Prime Minister, the outgoing Minister of Energy Rumen Radev and the outgoing Minister of Education Galin Tsokov visited today the Vocational High School for Nuclear Energy "Igor V. Kurchatov" in the city of Kozloduy. After the visit to the high school, they also visited sites at the Kozloduy NPP site. Denkov and Radev also met with the management of the nuclear power plant.

Denkov recalled that the repair of PSHP "Belmeken" has been completed and this plant is already working. In PSHP "Chaira" the generators will be started one by one, he added. It is expected that one will be operational by the end of this year, the other by the end of next year. The others are being worked on in parallel.

Retired Minister of Energy Rumen Radev commented to BTA that balancing the electricity system is a challenge with the introduction of increasingly large RES capacities. According to him, the most likely problem that the ESO director is talking about may be related to the frequency regulation of the system. "Yes, this challenge is being met," said the outgoing energy minister. However, he pointed out that currently four of the units in TPP "Maritsa-East 2" are working, as well as two of those in TPP "AES Maritza East 1". Regarding the KonturGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP, a repair program has started there and the plant is currently not operating. "But with the ones we have at the moment, we can handle it," pointed out Radev. According to him, in the hours in which there is greater energy production and cannot be covered by sufficient export capacity, more and more network connectivity develops. In such cases, there may be certain restrictions in some of the hours, but they do not affect the base capacities.

There are no problems with the licensing of Westinghouse fuel, which will be used at the Kozloduy NPP" commented the resigned Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and the executive director of the nuclear power plant Valentin Nikolov. "We are waiting for the fuel to arrive at the site and we will help the ESO by entering into a planned annual maintenance and bringing in the first fuel with which we will diversify the fuel elements.", said Nikolov. According to him, this will happen according to plan.

With regard to unit 7 of the Kozloduy NPP, everything is going according to schedule at the moment, said the resigned Minister of Energy Rumen Radev. "We are already in the first phase of engineering," Radev pointed out and added that from an engineering and technical point of view, things are moving according to schedule.

When asked by BTA whether the terms and conditions set by the parliament for "Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd." are realistic, the resigned minister of energy recalled that it should be possible to achieve fixed conditions - specific a deadline for the realization of the project, a fixed price, as well as to agree on the mechanisms under which there will be at least a 30 percent participation of Bulgarian companies in this project. "The deadlines are tight, tense, but possible," said Rumen Radev.

To another question from BTA, what will happen if the Bulgarian side fails to reach an agreement with the South Korean company, he answered that all indications so far show that the negotiations with "Hyundai Engineering and Construction" will be successful. "Until now, we have no reason to believe that we will have any discrepancies in this direction," added Radev. He stated that the Hyundai team found "a wonderful site". "We have reason to be proud as Bulgarians that we actually have a good infrastructural and geological site here in Kozloduy. This is taken into account by them," the resigned Minister of Energy also stated. According to him, this is important in order to be able to achieve the required parameters on time and to have agreed prices. He indicated that the final pricing of the project will be clear by the time the final investment decision is made by the summer of 2025.