Agreement Expands Cooperation to Enhance Energy Security and Achieve Climate Goals
Cranberry Township, PA – March 2, 2023 – Westinghouse Electric Company today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bulgaria’s Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild.
(L to R) Ivaylo Ivanov, member of the Board of Directors of Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild, and Elias Gedeon, Senior Vice President for Westinghouse Energy Systems, complete signing a Memorandum of Understanding for Westinghouse AP1000® technology. The agreement expands cooperation, enhances energy security and achieves climate goals.
The agreement establishes a joint working group between the two parties to initiate planning for potential deployment of one or more AP1000® reactors, a Generation III+ nuclear technology. The working group will also evaluate regulatory, licensing and design bases to ensure full compliance with applicable regulations as well as a streamlined execution path to enable Bulgaria to achieve its nuclear energy goals.
“Westinghouse appreciates the partnership and is eager to support Bulgaria’s clean energy future,” said David Durham, Energy Systems President for Westinghouse. “This cooperative agreement sets us on a path toward providing both economic and environmental benefits for the Bulgarian people while bolstering the country’s energy security.”
KNPP–Newbuild is a special project company owned by the single operating nuclear power plant in Bulgaria and specifically established to manage the project to build one or two nuclear reactors at the Kozloduy NPP site, using the advantages of existing infrastructure and advanced licensing and environmental status.
There are currently two Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors in operation at the Kozloduy site. Westinghouse signed a 10-year agreement in December 2022 to supply nuclear fuel to one of the units starting in 2024.
The AP1000 reactor is the only operating Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, modular construction design and has the smallest footprint per MWe on the market. In addition to the two reactors nearing completion at the Vogtle site in Georgia, four AP1000 units are currently setting operational performance records in China with four additional reactors under construction, and two more planned. Three units were recently selected for Poland and nine units have been announced for Ukraine, and the technology is under consideration at multiple other sites in Central and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, and in the United States.
