New Year’s Eve saw units 3 and 4 of Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant disconnected from the grid and shut down as part of the decommissioning process. The two 440 MW VVER units were shut down in compliance with the European Union Accession Treaty.
Unit 3 was commissioned in 1980 and generated nearly 69 TWh with Unit 4 following in 1982, generating nearly 67 TWh. While the design lifetime of VVER-440 reactors is 30 fuel campaigns Unit 3 was in its 22nd fuel campaign, and Unit 4 in its 21st fuel campaign.
Two 1000 MW reactors, Units 5 and 6 remain in operation at the plant.
Despite the closure it has been suggested that the plant could be restarted within three months if the EU were to reverse its decision on the reactors, which have been extensively modified.
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