Bulgaria is trying to replace Russia’s nuclear fuel supplies

Bulgaria’s only nuclear power plant on Friday signed a nuclear fuel supply deal with a French firm to replace supplies from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The state-owned Kozloduy Power Plant on the Danube currently relies on Russian fuel for its two Soviet-built 1,000-megawatt reactors.

Framatome, a subsidiary of French energy giant EDF, will supply nuclear fuel for Kozloduy Unit 5 from early 2025 under a 10-year deal signed on Friday.

Last week, Kozloduy signed a similar deal with Westinghouse Electric Sweden to supply nuclear fuel for its other operating reactor, Unit 6, from 2024.

With the two agreements, “we have achieved full diversification of nuclear fuel supplies for Bulgaria’s only nuclear power plant,” Interim Energy Minister Rosen Hristov said at the signing ceremony.

“The goal is security of supply and safe operation,” he added.

Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel has yet to be approved for use by the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency.

However, Framatome’s fuel is identical to that currently used in Kozloduy, as it is produced under license by the Russian company Rosatom’s nuclear unit Tvel.

Bulgaria’s current contract with Tvel expires at the end of 2025.

Kozloduy supplies over a third of the country’s electricity and is a major electricity exporter to the rest of the Balkans, prompting the power plant to replace Russian fuel to ensure its operations amid the war in Ukraine.

© Agence France-Presse