Bulgaria and the Czech Republic will cooperate in the operation of nuclear capacity
Bulgaria's experience in the exploitation of nuclear capacity is an excellent precondition for deepening energy cooperation between our country and the Czech Republic. The two countries face similar challenges in the civil nuclear - building new capacities and diversifying nuclear fuel. That is what Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov and the Czech Ambassador to Bulgaria H.E. Miroslav Toman agreed upon during their talk.
Minister Malinov and Ambassador Toman underlined that both sides share the same vision of the importance of nuclear energy for energy security and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. As it is well-known, six nuclear reactors are operating in the Czech Republic, four at Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant and two at Temelin Nuclear Power Plant. They account for about 1/3 of the total electricity production in the country.
“Nuclear energy plays a major role in national, regional and European energy security. It is a key element in meeting Europe's ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing climate-neutral energy,“ Minister Malinov stressed. He briefed his guest on the work to build new nuclear units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant site, as well as on the government's real progress in the process of diversifying nuclear fuel. Bulgaria has successfully completed a major phase of the Kozloduy nuclear fuel diversification programme, Minister Malinov informed. Westinghouse's first fuel cartridges were loaded during the planned annual outage of Unit 5 in May this year.
According to the roadmap approved by the National Assembly, in 2035, Unit 7 of our nuclear power plant should start commercial operation and Unit 8 is planned for commissioning two years later.
Diversification of gas supplies was also among the topics discussed between Minister Malinov and Miroslav Toman. In the words of the Energy Minister, the implementation of the Vertical Gas Corridor is vital for addressing the challenges of diversification and energy security. The project is a strategic initiative connecting the gas transmission infrastructure of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova, aimed at improving security and diversification of natural gas sources and transport routes from reliable sources from south to north.