Ukraine intends to buy two nuclear reactors from Bulgaria
Kyiv plans to sign the deal to compensate for the loss of Zaporizhzhya NPP
Ukraine hopes to sign an agreement in June to buy two nuclear reactors from Bulgaria to compensate for the loss of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was seized by Russia in February 2022 and is Europe's largest.
Source. This was reported to Reuters by the head of Energoatom, Petro Kotin.
The new reactors will be built at the Khmelnytsky NPP and equipped with Russian-designed equipment that Kyiv wants to import from Bulgaria, Kotin said, adding that negotiations between the Ukrainian and Bulgarian governments are ongoing.
"I think that sometime in June we will have a result on signing contracts with Bulgaria for the purchase of this equipment," he told the agency.
The first reactor is expected to be ready for installation immediately. "I have set a task for our construction organisation and Khmelnytsky NPP to have it ready for installation by June," said Mr Kotin.
According to him, if it is delivered on time and in full, Energoatom will be ready to start commissioning the new reactor in two to three years. This is the period required to manufacture the turbine for the unit, so it is expected that these processes will run in parallel. Kotin clarified that Energoatom is in preliminary talks with General Electric on the manufacture of the turbine.
The second reactor will be installed later, Kotin did not specify a timeframe.
The Energoatom CEO also said that Bulgaria had previously set the price of the two reactors at $600 million, but Sofia is seeking to increase the price of the equipment, which can only be bought outside Bulgaria in Russia.
Kotin said that during the negotiations, the Bulgarian side "constantly wants to achieve greater benefits for itself", but Kyiv is still focused on the $600 million price.
In addition, Energoatom intends to build two more reactors in Khmelnytsky based on the US AP-1000 reactor, and the company will start pouring concrete for the two new units in early April.
After the loss of ZNPP, Ukraine relies on nuclear power from the country's three operating nuclear power plants, which have a total of nine reactors, including the two reactors currently operating at Khmelnytsky NPP.
The head of Energoatom said that Kyiv is not abandoning its plans to restart Zaporizhzhia NPP "one day" and that, unlike Russia, Ukraine will be able and knows how to bring the plant back online. "They (the Russians – ed.) still say they will restart the plant, but technically they cannot restart it because there are no power lines, no water, no personnel," Kotin said. He clarified that Energoatom, which retained the staff that operated ZNPP before the war, would be ready to resume the plant's operation after its de-occupation and special teams have already been trained for this purpose.
Background. As a reminder, the IAEA adopted a resolution on the immediate return of ZNPP to Ukrainian control. Russia was called upon to withdraw unauthorised personnel and military from the plant.
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