The US nuclear group Westinghouse and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction have signed an Engineering Services Contract (ESC) for the development of two AP-1000 reactors to be built at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant in Bulgaria. These will be Units 7 and 8 of the power plant located in north-western Bulgaria. The contract scope includes site planning for the two Westinghouse units, support to begin licensing and permitting, as well as provision of project planning and operations & maintenance development.
Bulgaria’s first AP-1000 nuclear reactor (Unit 7) is anticipated to achieve commercial operation in 2035, while the second (Unit 8) is expected for 2037. Westinghouse said it has already signed Memoranda of Understanding with 22 Bulgarian suppliers to support the project. In January 2024, the Bulgarian nuclear company Kozloduy NPP New Builds had invited expressions of interest for companies to build new units at the Kozloduy nuclear plant.
Currently, the 1.9 GW Kozloduy plant, Bulgaria’s sole nuclear plant, operates two Soviet-built VVER-1000 reactors (Units 5 and 6) (2x930 MW) licenced to operate until 2027 for unit 5 and until 2029 for unit 6. The country was required to close four older VVER-440 units as a condition for accession to the European Union.
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