Preliminary estimates put the cost for the construction of a new 1,000-megawatt (MW) unit at Bulgaria’s sole nuclear power plant (NPP) Kozloduy at $5.0 billion (3.7 billion euro), the country’s deputy prime minister said.
All figures are provisional, as the project's financial framework and financial model are still being specified, the government press office quoted Daniela Bobeva as saying on Wednesday.
The Kozloduy NPP remained with two operational reactors of 1,000 MW each after the country closed down four units of 440 MW each to address nuclear safety concerns of the European Union prior to its accession to the bloc in 2007.
In April 2012, the government in Sofia decided to add a new unit to the plant.
In December, experts from U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric, Japan’s Toshiba Corporation and the state-run Bulgarian Energy Holding, which is the NPP's owner, signed an agreement to open talks on the construction of the new reactor.
In June, the Bulgarian government said Westinghouse has replaced its parent company Toshiba as a strategic investor in the construction of the new unit at the Bulgarian NPP at the request of the two foreign companies.
"We leave it to the next cabinet to confirm progress made so far and to move ahead with the project for Kozloduy NPP's Unit Seven," Bobeva said. "There is a long way to go before the project become reality."
Source: SeeNews