Westinghouse Electric Co., the U.S.-based unit of
Japan
's
Toshiba Corp (6502.TO), Thursday said it had signed an agreement with the
Bulgarian energy ministry to enter into exclusive talks for the supply of a new
nuclear reactor at its existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant.
The agreement the two sides signed Thursday could be worth several billion
dollars if it leads to a final, binding contract sometime next year.
No financial terms were announced.
Bulgaria
would
like construction of the new reactor to start as soon as 2016.
Thursday's move is meant to diversify sourcing in
Bulgaria
's
nuclear sector and marks the European Union member state's turn towards the
West in this critical sector.
Bulgaria
's
traditional energy sector supplier is
Russia
and
the two sides recently agreed to a deal allowing
Russia
's
planned South Stream natural gas pipeline to cross Bulgarian territory.
All six of
Bulgaria
's
nuclear reactors at the Kozloduy plant were of Russian design. Four units have
already been decommissioned while the remaining two units have undergone major
renovations to meet EU safety norms.
Licensing
for those units expires in 2017 and 2019.