Kozloduy said Westinghouse has been asked to prove the possibility of joint operation of its fuel alongside existing fuel assemblies supplied by Russia’s Tvel.
Earlier this week Russia’s state-run nuclear fuel company and Kozloduy signed contractual documents for supplies of fuel up to and including 2025.
Kozloduy said a tender for the supply of alternative fuel could be announced as soon as the Bulgarian nuclear regulatory agency completes the licensing process for Westinghouse-made fuel.
Earlier statements by Kozloduy said Bulgarian law required a multi-stage licensing and safety review for the introduction of new nuclear fuel and the 2019 contract with Westinghouse marked the beginning of the first stage in that process.
Kozloduy said it is committed to strictly following the Bulgarian government and EU policy of diversification of nuclear fuel supplies.
The station said it had coordinated the signing of the new fuel contract with Tvel with the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) as required by EU regulation.
The ESA confirmed the claims in a separate statement, saying Bulgaria is committed to pursuing “an ambitious” fuel diversification programme.
The ESA said: “With the engagement of all parties, the licensing procedure considering fuel from alternative supplier will start already in 2020.”
According to Agnieszka Kaźmierczak, director general of the ESA, the agency is concerned about the “excessive” dependence of the Kozloduy nuclear station on a single out-of-EU supplier.
“After several months of discussions, I believe that the ESA and Kozloduy NPP have reached a balanced agreement on the best way to favour the completion of the fuel diversification”, she said.
Bulgaria has two nuclear units in commercial operation, Kozloduy-5 and -6, both 963-MW pressurised water reactors of the Russian VVER/V-320 design. The units are licensed to operate until 2028 and 2029.
