Fluor Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD for the consideration of new nuclear units in Bulgaria.
The Executive Director of Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD (BEH), Valentin Nikolov, and Frank Dishon, a representative of US-based Fluor Corporation signed the MOU for exchange of information and provision of preliminary assistance intended to help Bulgaria's transition towards a zero-emission energy system and the implementation of the goals for a sustainable and reliable electricity system.
The ceremony was also attended by Bulgaria's Deputy Minister of Energy Miroslav Damyanov and the Executive Director of Kozloduy NPP – New Builds, Lyuben Marinov.
BEH comprises a group of companies engaged in the electricity generation, supply and transmission, natural gas transmission, supply and storage and coal mining market in Bulgaria.
“This new agreement exemplifies Fluor’s strategy to deliver decarbonisation solutions in support of the world’s clean energy transition journey,” said Jim Breuer, group president of Fluor’s Energy Solutions segment. “Fluor has unparalleled experience in the nuclear industry. Coupled with its investment and demonstrated project capabilities with NuScale Power’s unique small modular reactor technology, Fluor is positioned as a leader in this global imperative.”
Fluor and BEH have agreed to cooperate in evaluating potential programme management services, front-end engineering, evaluation of the existing coal-fired fleet for potential nuclear small modular reactor (SMR) re-purposement projects, and the assessment of the Bulgarian supply chain and other related services, Fluor said.
“The necessity of implementing safe and reliable clean energy power at Kozloduy is well understood in Bulgaria and eastern Europe,” said Nikolov. “Fluor is a leading engineering, procurement, construction and project management services company in the energy transition space. Coupled with NuScale’s small modular nuclear reactor technology, we can achieve European and Bulgarian policy goals in a more diversified power market, improve the security of energy supply and add sufficient value for the national gross domestic product.”
NuScale Power has developed a light water reactor SMR to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, hydrogen production and other process heat applications. Its design features a fully factory-fabricated NuScale Power Module capable of generating 77MWe using a safer, smaller and scalable version of pressurised water reactor technology. NuScale's scalable design is for power plants that can house up to four, six, or 12 individual power modules, which NuScale says will reduce the financial commitments associated with gigawatt-sized nuclear facilities. The majority investor in NuScale is Fluor Corporation.
In February, NuScale Power and Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant – New Build (KNPP-NB) agreed to evaluate the suitability of NuScale's SMR technology for deployment at the existing Kozloduy site in Bulgaria. KNPP-NB is a public limited company established to commission new nuclear power capacity at the site.
Photo: How a NuScale SMR might look (Photo credit; NuScale Power LLC)
