Half a century of Kozloduy NPP – a bow to all colleagues who have contributed with their work over the years to this success

On July 15, 1966, in Sofia, in the “Lozenets” government residence, an Agreement was signed between Bulgaria and the USSR for cooperation in constructing a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria. Two years later, with Order 413 of the Council of Ministers of November 1, 1968, the conceptual project for constructing the nuclear power plant was also approved.
On October 14, 1969, the first sod was laid for the construction of the nuclear power plant by Pencho Kubadinski, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Construction and Architecture. It is planned that the new nuclear power plant will have a capacity of 800,000 kilowatts and will produce 5.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which will represent 16.5 percent of the country’s total electricity production for 1975.
For the Kozloduy NPP’s needs, the most powerful pumping station in Bulgaria was built on the banks of the Danube River. It supplies 120 cubic meters of water every second.
On April 6, 1970, the construction of the main building of the Kozloduy NPP began, with a length of 240 meters, a width of 105 meters, and a height of 40 meters. It houses the reactor hall, the engine room, the ventilation center, and the electrical devices of the 440-megawatt units. Large-scale construction activities and installations were carried out according to Soviet and Bulgarian projects, some of which were implemented for the first time in the world practice of nuclear power plant construction and represent significant engineering achievements commissioned for four and a half years.
The collectives of 38 construction and assembly departments, organizations, and enterprises participate in the construction. At peak times, the site employs around 8,000 people. In the construction of the nuclear power plant, 31,000 tons of fittings were invested, 38,000 tons of steel structures were used and 34,500 tons of various equipment were installed. The main equipment was supplied by the USSR, and the individual equipment by the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
On June 19, 1972, the first reactor for the nuclear power plant arrived with the ship “Tashkent” from the Soviet Union. It weighs 200 tons. The reactor was lowered into its shaft at 15:35 on November 20, 1972, and the second one a year later on November 5, 1973. The first 220-megawatt turbine was put into trial operation on February 13, 1974.
On June 30, 1974, at 6:54 a.m., the physical start-up of the First Power Unit took place. On July 24, 1974, at 10:01 p.m., it was connected to Bulgaria’s energy system. On August 26, 1974, the second turbine of the first power unit with a capacity of 220 megawatts came into operation.
On September 4, 1974, the chairman of the State Council, Todor Zhivkov, solemnly opened the nuclear power plant. With this, Bulgaria becomes the first country in Southeast Europe and one of the first in the world to adopt nuclear technology for electricity production. This is also the date of birth of the Bulgarian nuclear energy industry.