Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Parliament greenlights nuclear project with US technology

АЕЦ Козлодуй
Photo: BTA, archive

With 149 votes in favour, 50 against and three abstentions, Parliament ratified in first reading the agreement between Bulgaria and the United States for cooperation on the project for the construction of nuclear power at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant site and Bulgaria's civil nuclear programme. The opposition parties - Vazrazhdane and the BSP - reacted strongly to the decision. The BSP described it as a servile act that violated all EU principles.

Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant, Kozloduy, currently has two operating Russian-made reactors. In December 2022, Westinghouse signed a 10-year contract to supply fresh nuclear fuel for one of the units from its manufacturing plant in Västerås, Sweden, and deliveries will start in a month's time. 

he Minister of Energy is required to take all steps to make a positive decision on the construction of new AR1000 nuclear power capacity using Westinghouse technology, according to parliamentary decisions in January and December 2023. 

In an interview with BNT, Kozloduy NPP executive director Valentin Nikolov said that the plant's new units - No 7 and No 8 - would cost less than 30 billion leva (15 billion euro), of which 20% would be self-financed and the rest from loans. Westinghouse is expected to announce the price at the end of this month. Unit 7 is expected to be operational in 2034 and unit 8 2-3 years later. No AP1000 units have yet been built in Europe.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Almost summer temperatures expected in Bulgaria on the last day of the working week

On Friday the weather in Bulgaria will be mostly sunny. There will be more significant cloudiness over Northwestern Bulgaria and there will be short-term rain in places in the afternoon. There will be a moderate wind, in the regions north of the..

published on 3/13/25 7:15 PM

Bulgaria's Constitutional Court declares the election of 16 MPs illegal, Velichie party above 4% threshold

Bulgaria's Constitutional Court has declared the election of 16 MPs in the current Bulgarian Parliament illegal . The decision was published on the institution's website. The Constitutional Court's decision makes it clear that after the..

published on 3/13/25 4:35 PM
Iliyan Cholev, professor in religion in Razgrad

62% of parents are against a mandatory subject "Religion" in schools, shows poll

62% of parents are categorically against the introduction of a mandatory subject "Religion and Orthodox Christianity", and only 10% consider the lack of religious education to be a significant problem. This is shown by a survey by the Parents..

published on 3/13/25 3:16 PM