The development of nuclear energy will allow us to achieve climate goals

Although I repeat myself, I would again place the declaration of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) at the top of the recent achievements. The call for a threefold increase in installed nuclear capacity in the world by 2050 is already a goal that is increasingly becoming a reality, given the information about the plans of countries around the world to build new nuclear power plants. The realization of this trend will also be a test of the readiness of the industry to cope with the preparation of equipment for the construction of the planned nuclear power plants, and this applies in full force to companies in Bulgaria.

The second place in importance, unfortunately, again belongs to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and the flare-up of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, which are still determining political life in the world and in our country. The good news in this difficult situation is that colleagues from the Kozloduy NPP have found a way to ensure the normal operation of units 5 and 6 without relying solely on assistance from Rosatom, as was the case a few years ago. Moreover, for the first time during the reloading of unit 5, nuclear fuel produced by Westinghouse was loaded into the reactor area.

For the fourth consecutive year, we have developed and provided to all our members and all institutions in Bulgaria a “Report on the dynamics of change in the main indicators in a database of BulAtom on the main characteristics of the electricity sector by 2023”. The development is valuable because it provides a comprehensive picture of the development of Bulgaria’s electricity sector with accumulation for four consecutive years.

Technologies related to thermonuclear fusion are actively developing

The renaissance of nuclear energy at the international level continues. In fact, more and more countries around the world are including the construction of new nuclear power plants in their development plans. In countries such as Italy, Norway and even Germany, there is renewed talk of developing nuclear energy.

In addition to countries such as Japan, the United States, Russia, China, South Korea, France, and India, which have been devoting financial resources to the development of fusion technologies for many years, many private companies are investing in this area. The successful implementation of this technology will mean solving the world’s energy problem.

There is a lot of talk about the development of small modular reactors (SMRs). Projects for the actual construction of such plants can be expected in the near future.

In 2024, Kozloduy NPP New Power EAD signed several contracts that ensure the further development of the project for the construction of units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy site – a contract for legal cooperation with the American law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, as well as a contract with the consortium “Westinghouse – HD&C” DZZD for engineering for a new nuclear power plant.

The draft Strategy for Sustainable Energy Development of the Republic of Bulgaria until 2050, published at the end of 2023 by the Ministry of Energy, clearly stipulates the implementation of this project. At the same time, the vision for the utilization of the Belene site is insufficiently developed. BULATOM’s position on this issue has been expressed repeatedly, and it is a search for an opportunity to implement the Belene 1 and 2 project with the participation of Western partners. This is the way for Bulgaria to comply with the decision of the Declaration with which I began my statement.

Involving more and more companies in our idea remains our constant task

The main activity of BULATOM – lobbying for the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria, will continue as before. This will be implemented consistently through our participation in the decisions made by our partner at the European level Nucleareurope, through establishing contacts at every possible level with all interested institutions in our country for the development of nuclear energy and providing our expertise, lobbying for the timely implementation of the two projects – Kozloduy NPP – Units 7 and 8, and Belene NPP – Units 1 and 2, with the aim of their availability by 2050, as well as providing assistance through our members in the implementation of the above-mentioned projects.

We will continue to hold our traditional conference, which this year will take place from June 4 to 6 in the Riviera Hotel – Varna. Our constant task remains – to involve more and more companies in our idea.
.

Source: TLL Media