Bulgaria’s Kozloduy NPP has signed a 10-year agreement with Framatome – a subsidiary of French energy giant EDF – for the supply of nuclear fuel to Kozloduy's unit 5 reactor from early 2025, as part of its programme to end its reliance on fuel deliveries from Russia. Kozloduy NPP on the Danube river currently uses fuel supplied by Rosatom’s Tvel for its two Soviet-built VVER-1000 reactors (units 5&6). Units 1-4 with VVER-440 reactors were closed as a condition for Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, despite being extensively upgraded, drastically reducing Bulgaria’s energy export.
The previous week, Kozloduy signed a similar contract with Westinghouse Electric Sweden for nuclear fuel for unit 6 from 2024.
Acting Energy Minister Rosen Hristov said, with the two agreements in place "we have achieved full diversification of nuclear fuel deliveries". He added: "The aim is security of deliveries and safe operation."
Westinghouse's nuclear fuel has yet to be approved for use by Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulatory Agency. However, Framatome's fuel is identical to that currently used in Kozloduy as it has been produced for decades under licence at Russia's Mashinostroitelny Zavod in Elektrostal (MSZ), which is part of Tvel.
Bulgaria's current contract with Tvel expires in at the end of 2025.
Image: Bulgaria's Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (courtesy of Kozloduy NPP)
