site.btaEnergy Committee Instructs Government to Negotiate with US Construction of New Unit of Kozloduy NPP

The Energy Committee of the National Assembly has instructed the Council of Ministers to conduct negotiations with the US government to sign an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of a new nuclear power unit at Kozloduy NPP with the AP1000 technology (Kozloduy NPP Unit 7).

The adopted decision states that the Council of Ministers, through the Minister of Energy, shall, by 1 March 2023, take all necessary actions for the construction of Unit 7 of Kozloduy NPP on the site approved by the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (BNRA).

In addition, the Council of Ministers should take all necessary actions to initiate a licensing and environmental impact assessment procedure for the construction of a second identical unit at the site approved by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (Unit 8 of Kozloduy NPP).

The Council of Ministers must also take a decision to declare the nuclear power plant a site of national importance within the meaning of the Spatial Development Act and a national site within the meaning of the State Property Act.

Caretaker Energy Minister Rosen Hristov told the committee earlier that Bulgaria needs to build four new nuclear reactors - two at Belene NPP and two at the Kozloduy NPP site (units 7 and 8). This proposal will be officially presented next week, when the Ministry of Energy will announce its ideas for the development of the Bulgarian energy sector, at the presentation of the new energy strategy of the country. According to Hristov, Bulgaria should aim to have 4,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity, and to this end it should negotiate with all the leading companies such as Westinghouse, Framatome and EDF, not just with the US government.