Head of Ukraine's Energoatom hopes to buy two nuclear power units from Bulgaria

MOSCOW. Aug 9 (Interfax) - President of the Energoatom national nuclear power company of Ukraine Pyotr Kotin counts on the successful conclusion of talks with Bulgaria on acquiring two nuclear power units, which will be installed at the sites of Unit 3 and Unit 4 of the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).

"This issue is highly important to us. The Energy Ministry is working on it. The Bulgarian government decided to hold such talks between the ministries of both countries. They are continuing. It is still too early to speak of their result, but we that it will be," Kotin was quoted as telling reporters during a visit to one of Ukraine's NPPs.

The installation of two reactors will add nearly 2,200 MW to Ukraine's energy system, he said.

"The site for Unit 3 is in a very good state in order to build something at it. We are conducting its re-conservation. The level of readiness of the site for Unit 4 is lower. We will be working there from scratch," Kotin said when describing the current situation.

Cooperation continues with U.S. company Westinghouse on the construction of Unit 5 and Unit 6 at the Khmelnitsky NPP, he said.

"A feasibility study is being conducted. Three bills on the construction of new power units are being prepared," he said.

Another two potential NPP sites are under consideration - in Chigirin, Cherkassy region, and in Teplodar, Odessa region, where the construction of an NPP was planned back in Soviet times, but the project was put on hold following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, Kotin said.

"In fact, there is a preliminary agreement with the local administration. This initiative has received very good feedback from local residents. So, we are working," he said.

As reported, the Bulgarian parliament in July 2023 appointed the country's energy minister to hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart on the prospect of selling equipment initially intended for the Belene NPP to Kiev.

Bulgaria scrapped the Belene NPP project in 2012.

The Ukrainian and Bulgarian Energy Ministries signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the energy sector during Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's official visit to Bulgaria.

When commenting on the completion of repairs at power units ahead of time, Kotin explained that the improvement of arrangements for preparing for such repairs and conducting them, as well as the extra efforts undertaken by the staff of nuclear power plants.

When the power unit was shut down for repairs, it had 90% of all necessary equipment, and the rest will be done during the repairs, Kotin said.

"The system is up and running," he said.

It was reported on August 5, citing the Ukrainian Energy Ministry, that Energoatom had reconnected a 1,000 MW reactor unit at one of the country's NPPs to the grid after repairs 15 days earlier than initially planned. The Ukrenergo power grid operator said in its update on Monday that one of the power units was reconnected to the grid on Friday, August 4, while another NPP unit was shut down for repairs on Saturday, August 5. The reconnection of power units to the grid after repairs ahead of schedule had been reported by Energoatom on a number of occasions previously.

As of early August, Energoatom has to repair four out of nine nuclear power units located in Ukraine-controlled territory by the beginning of the fall-winter season, one of which is expected to be reconnected to the grid as soon as late August.

Ukraine controls three nuclear power plants - the Khmelnitsky, Rovno and South Ukraine NPPs - equipped with nine power units with a total capacity of 7.8 GW.