Kozloduy

US-based Westinghouse Electric Company said on Thursday it agreed to discuss a new timetable and structure of the project to build Unit 7 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear plant.

Westinghouse CEO Danny Roderick said the decision had been taken "jointly by all parties and reflects the present conditions in Bulgaria of support for an infrastructure project of such a scale."

Bulgaria is only ready to work on the agreement with Westinghouse Electric for unit 7 of the Kozloduy NPP provided that the company participates in the project as an investor, according to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Borisov made clear Wednesday in Parliament that Bulgaria could not afford to implement the project unless US Westinghouse Electric joined the scheme as an investor.

The partition of the smaller units of the nuclear power station Kozloduy has started so that the metal remnants can be submitted for recycling.

The dismantling of the nuclear units will be executed by the state-owned company Radioactive Waste, as reported by bTV news.

In the period 2025-2035, Russia is to return to Bulgaria 180 tonnes of high-level radioactive waste generated as a result of the functioning of units 1-4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, according to Dilyan Petrov, Executive Director of the State Enterprise Radioactive Waste (SERAW).

US-based nuclear power company Westinghouse estimated that the electricity produced by unit 7 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy NPP will cost between USD 75 and 84, if it constructs its AP1000 plant there.

A barge carrying 850 tonnes of fertilisers on board sank in the Romanian port of Moldova Veche on Wednesday, while conducting manoeuvres.

The Romanian port lies approximately 200 kilometres upstream from the beginning of the Bulgarian section of the Danube and 250 kilometres from the town of Vidin.

Unit 5 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP) was reconnected to the power grid late on Friday night.

Earlier on Friday, the unit was disconnected due to an automatic activation of the electrical protection of the generator, Darik radio reports.

After an inspection it was established that the fault was due to a defective control device, which was replaced.

Westinghouse Electric Company said on Monday it is donating BGN 17,000 (EUR 8,500) for the reconstruction of a kindergarten in the Bulgarian town of Mizia hit by flash floods last summer.

The planned construction of a new unit at the Bulgarian nuclear power plant (NPP) Kozloduy is opposed to by Romanian citizens, who live on the opposite bank of the Danube river.

Units 5 and 6 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant can work for at least 20 years more than planned, according to preliminary estimates related to the life extension program for the two facilities.

The initial results of the probes were presented Wednesday by Lachezar Kostov, head of the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency.