President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has signed the law on the procurement of equipment for the completion of units 3&4 at the Khmelnitsky NPP. The law establishes the legal framework and grants permission for the procurement of equipment from the Bulgarian Belene NPP.
In February, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) passed the law allowing nuclear utility Energoatom to buy two Soviet-designed nuclear reactors from Bulgaria’s cancelled Belene project for Khmelnitsky expansion.
The decision followed discussions led by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi during a visit to Ukraine. Grossi outlined the agency’s support in providing technical expertise and nuclear safety advice for the new Khmelnitsky reactors. Westinghouse has said the planned reactors will be able to run on American-made fuel.
The Belene project envisaged the construction of two Russian VVER-1000/V-466 reactors and preliminary site works began in 2008. Contracts for components including large forgings and I&C systems were signed with suppliers. The plant was to be built by Atomstroyexport (part of Rosatom) after Russia won an international tender in 2006, but the project was cancelled in 2012 after a change of government.
It was revived again briefly in 2018 after a series of arbitration procedures, which saw Bulgaria pay €601.6m ($691.5m) in compensation to Atomstroyexport for the equipment already manufactured. These components are now stored at the construction site and maintained regularly by Rosatom.
In January 2024, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko revealed plans to build four new units at the Khmelnitsky NPP. These include two Russian designed VVER-1000 units to be built using equipment imported from the cancelled Belene project. The other two will be Westinghouse-supplied AP-1000 units.
Khmelnitsky currently operates two VVER-1000 units (1&2). Khmelnitsky’s first reactor was connected to the grid in 1987, but work on three others stopped in 1990 when unit 3 was 75% complete. Work on the second reactor restarted and it was connected to the grid in 2004, but units 3&4 remain unfinished.
Bulgaria’s National Assembly earlier instructed the Minister of Energy to start negotiations with Ukraine for the sale of the Belene equipment. Ukrainian officials said Bulgaria previously put the price of the two reactors at $600m.
However, there has been growing opposition in Bulgaria to the possible sale of the reactors to Ukraine. The opposition Vazrazhdane (Revival) party recently tabled a draft Resolution in the National Assembly cancelling the negotiations with Ukraine on sale of the Belene equipment.
MP Iskra Mihaylova told journalists that Vazrazhdane wants the equipment to remain in Bulgaria and be used for the completion of the abandoned Belene plant project. She expects other political organisations who have stated similar positions to convince their current coalition partners that Bulgaria should not sell and gift away the equipment. She noted that the price at which the negotiations with Ukraine are being conducted is their purchase price, which is literally no money.
