Wedoany.com Report-Nov 5, On Monday, the Bulgarian government began constructing two nuclear reactors using US technology, signing the first major contract worth nearly $350 million - a deal that Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said made the nuclear project irreversible.

The contract was signed between the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant and a consortium between the US company Westinghouse and South Korea's Hyundai.

The Bulgarian parliament opted for the new nuclear reactors to be built using the US Westinghouse's AR-1000 technology, with construction to be carried out by the Korean company Hyundai.

The new deal makes the nuclear project irreversible, said Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov, adding that by the end of next year, the government will know the project's final cost and its economic feasibility.

A contract will then be signed for the construction of the nuclear reactors and their installation on the site of the Kozloduy NPP, built on the banks of the Danube, just a few kilometres from Romania.

Electricity is expected to be generated by the first of the two new nuclear reactors in 2034.

Ultimately, the reactors are expected to cost more than $14 billion, and the state has invested nearly $1 billion in the Kozloduy-New Capacities project company.

The Bulgarian government may receive $8 billion in financing from the US export bank Exim Bank and a similar loan from South Korean institutions that finance similar expert projects.

The Bulgarian energy minister said the US Exim Bank will finance the activities of Westinghouse and Bulgarian subcontractors, while South Korea will support Hyundai and Korean companies involved in the project.

Bulgaria expects at least $700 million from selling two Russian nuclear reactors to Ukraine to support its new nuclear project. Kyiv authorities need the two Russian reactors, which Bulgaria owns but has not used, to complete the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant.

However, the Bulgarian nuclear project must be notified to the European Commission, which must approve the construction of the two new US reactors.

Elias Gedion of Westinghouse Electric Company said that the US company has been working with Kozloduy NPP for 25 years on modernising units V and VI and replacing fresh nuclear fuel.

"Bulgaria has always been a crossroads of exchange between East and West, and today it is establishing itself as an energy hub in Europe," said Yoon Young-Joon of Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

He said the Kozloduy NPP will enhance Bulgaria's nuclear safety and decarbonisation

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)