NNEGC Energoatom evaluates the equipment of the Belene VVER nuclear island in order to speed up the procurement process. It was not without protests
15.05.2024
On May 13, representatives of NNEGC "Energoatom" visited the site of the canceled project of the Bulgarian nuclear power plant Belene in order to evaluate the unused equipment of the russian-made nuclear island VVER-1000 with a view to its further acquisition. The Ukrainian delegation got acquainted with the equipment and technical documentation. She also appreciated the pre-conservation process that Bulgarian specialists carried out on the equipment.
This was reported by the industry resource NucNet with reference to the Bulgarian National Electric Power Company.
According to the Bulgarian mass media, representatives of the nationalist Bulgarian political party "Vazrazhdane" held a protest in front of the site of the Belene NPP for two days in a row. The video, lasting more than 20 minutes, shows how the car of the Ukrainian delegation is stopped, and at the end even pushed and driven back, while there is not a single policeman on the scene. Only at the end does a police car appear. The purpose of the protest is to prevent the sale of nuclear equipment for nothing.
As reported by the Bulgarian mass media, the visit was preceded by a video conference of the acting of the Minister of Energy of Bulgaria Vladimir Malinova with his Ukrainian colleague Herman Galushchenko, at which they discussed the possibility of speeding up the process of supplying the specified equipment from the Belene NPP. "There is every chance to complete the agreement in the coming months", the Bulgarian government official said.
As a reminder, Bulgaria received equipment, including two reactor bodies and steam generator units, from russia for the two-unit Belene project in 2018. The resolution adopted by the National Assembly of Bulgaria in 2023 on the negotiation of the potential sale of the equipment stipulates that the sale price cannot be lower than 660 million dollars.
In March, the head of NNEGC Energoatom, Petro Kotin, stated that he intends to sign an agreement in June on the purchase of equipment in Bulgaria for new units of the Khmelnytsky NPP, which will compensate for the loss of the russian occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP. Earlier, Herman Galushchenko said that he expects the start of the construction of power unit 3 of the KhNPP in September 2024.
As NucNet reminds us, Bulgaria is looking to reorient its ambitions for new NPP construction, considering the possibility of building one or two units with Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the Kozloduy NPP.