Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant

The final signing of an engineering contract with the American company "Westinghouse" for the construction of two units at the site of the Kozloduy NPP is pending. This was announced by the acting Deputy Minister of Energy Elenko Bozhkov:

Bulgaria will import parts and materials from Russia to ensure the safe operation of the Kozloduy NPP. At today's meeting, the government approved a derogation from the sanctions of the European Union, which prohibit the import of certain parts and materials from Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

"I replaced the head of management in my first months as minister because of intelligence reports about the leadership's potential ties to Russia and corruption schemes." This was announced by the Acting Minister of Energy on bTV.

"They mentioned the name of Alexander Nikolov, whom I replaced. He is now on the 'Magnitsky' list."

The caretaker government is preparing a request for a derogation if the European Union imposes sanctions against Russian nuclear energy, Deputy Minister of Energy Elenko Bozhkov told BNT.

"The gas for 2023 is secured, the expectations are for stabilization of the prices in the coming winter months", Deputy Minister of Energy Elenko Bozhkov said on BNT.

According to him, the warmer winter means less gas used from the gas storage in Chiren.

On October 29 at 9 p.m., the sixth power unit of the Kozloduy NPP was disconnected from the country's electricity system, announced the staff of the plant. The reason is a technical problem in the cooling system of the generator - the non-nuclear part of the unit. There is no change in the radiation situation.

The Minister of Energy, Rosen Hristov, predicts that the price of gas in November may fall below BGN 166, and its value may be maintained in December.

"Bulgaria did not make the right decision regarding the old contract with Gazprom. There is no way to sign a new contract. Every step is a big problem. We are going to arbitration, most likely."

It is expected that one of the reactors of the Kozloduy NPP will use a different fuel from the Russian nuclear fuel after 2024. This was announced on bTV by the resigned Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov.

"We will talk to each municipality that needs help to pay for electricity. We held an operational meeting of the National Assembly and decided to set up a working group to determine what funds the municipalities need. When we saw examples like the one in Sofia - with different lighting prices, we wondered if these municipalities really needed extra money.