Bulgaria signs contract with US company to boost its nuclear energy capacity

ATHENS

Bulgaria signed a contract with a major US company to boost its nuclear energy capacity, local media reported on Monday.

The agreement is part of the Balkan country's ongoing efforts to develop Units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, according to the state-run BTA news agency, citing caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov.

Kozloduy, Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant and the largest in the region, is located 180 kilometers (111 miles) north of the capital Sofia and 5 km (3 miles) east of the town of Kozloduy on the Danube River, near the Romanian border.

Malinov thanked US company Westinghouse and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction for their cooperation in forming a consortium for the project. He stressed that enhancing nuclear energy capacity is a top priority for the government.

"Westinghouse Electric Company today announced it signed an extension to the current Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) contract with Bulgaria’s Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild for two AP1000 reactors," the company said in a statement.

The AP1000 technology has been chosen for nuclear projects in Poland, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. It is under consideration at other locations in Central and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, India, and North America, according to the company.

In February, Hyundai Engineering and Construction was selected by the Bulgarian parliament to negotiate terms for the engineering, construction, supplies, and launch of the new units at Kozloduy, utilizing AP1000 technology.