Nuclear Monitor #925

Todor Todorov

In Bulgaria, there is a discussion about the construction of the new unit 7 and preparatory work for unit 8 at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.Based on his open letter to the Bulgarian government and parliament, Todor Todorov wrote an article about his vision on the construction of Kozloduy 7 and 8.

Are we going to allow irresponsible politicians to push the country into a huge and unnecessary debt of over 50 billion leva?

Kozloduy 7-8 with Westinghouse reactors is just as unnecessary for Bulgaria as the corrupt Belene NPP project with Russian reactors.

The lack of vision and understanding of the public interest of our politicians has led to endless battles between different parties and a sad world “record” , 7 parliamentary elections in 3 years.

Engrossed in partisan bickering and lobbying interests, the native politicians caused the country to lose huge amounts of European funds meant for our country , they needed 20 votes in parliament to elect a president.

In all this chaos and inadequate actions of the political parties, there was one issue on which they showed surprising unity, the construction of a new Kozloduy 7-8 nuclear power plant, with Westinghouse reactors and a Hyundai plant builder. All parties supported this project and some of them want the Belene NPP to be built.

Politicians against the public interest

Traditionally for Bulgaria, energy mega-projects serve foreign interests and bring huge losses to the budget, burdening Bulgarian taxpayers.

The Belene NPP was “built” for over 30 years and brought the country a loss of over 3 billion leva without reaching a completed plant, but Rosatom was paid 1.2 billion leva in 2016 for completely unnecessary 2 reactors that are

still sitting wrapped in plastic at the Kozloduy site. There has never been an economic analysis that proves the need for the country of the Belene NPP, this project was completely unnecessary and became an example of corruption, but Russia’s interests were more important for Bulgarian politicians.

Turkish Stream was built through Bulgaria in 1 year with 3 billion leva from the budget, without a single diversion on our territory. For several years now it has served the Kremlin as one of the sources of funds for the continuation of the war against Ukraine, which does not sound very Euro-Atlantic, but it serves the Kremlin’s interests.

Bulgargas’s contract with the Turkish company Botas for access to liquefied gas from Turkey brings our country losses of USD 500 000 per day regardless of whether the service is used, the term of this contract is 13 years. A term in which it will serve Turkey’s interests, and our politicians are making heroic attempts to renegotiate the terms of this contract already signed by another caretaker government with a limited term in office.

The lobbyist project Kozloduy 7-8 with Westinghouse reactors and the plant builder Hyundai

The approach of the corrupt Belene NPP project applies to Kozloduy 7-8 as well. In the absence of public discussion, economic analyses and assessments of the need for new nuclear capacity, political decisions are being taken to launch this project. Parliament, without it being its duty, “chose” Westinghouse’s AP1000 rectors as well as Hyundai as the builder of the plant. Caretaker and full-time governments with limited time to govern have begun direct negotiations with Westinghouse and Hyundai, signing contracts and agreements and giving upbeat interviews with US embassy and government representatives. They persistently seek to tie Bulgaria to long-term huge debts for decades to come, and to change the country’s energy mix in favour of an unnecessary new nuclear power plant.

Interim energy ministers are announcing in the Bulgarian media a price tag of $14 billion for the construction of two AP-1000 reactors and are negotiating with the US EXIM Bank and a South Korean bank for two $8 billion loans, so far with unclear terms and interest rates.

A state guarantee of BGN 1.5 billion has already been budgeted for the launch of this project. Initially, Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) contributed BGN 500 million to the capital of the company Kozloduy – New Capacities NPP, very quickly the amount was tripled and the absorption has started. Apparently, this time the corrupt model of NPP Belene will be improved and accelerated with the waste of larger sums at the expense of the Bulgarian taxpayers.

The reason for this string of irresponsible actions by Bulgarian parties and politicians when signing contracts for energy mega-projects is clear – so far no one has taken responsibility for the huge damage done to the country by signing contracts in foreign interests. We hope that the responsible institutions will wake up and do their duty.

An illegal NPP?

Interestingly, the European Commission (EC) has not yet been informed about the grandiose plans of Bulgarian politicians for a new NPP with reactors by Westinghouse and builder Hyundai. For 2 years now we have been reading in the media about negotiations with the companies chosen by the parliament, we have been seeing publicity photos of our ministers with American ambassadors, bankers and politicians, but in our meetings in December in Brussels with the various departments of the EC no one had received any official information from the Bulgarian government. We assume that it is known to our rulers that they cannot build an illegal NPP in the European Union, if, as an old habit, they try to put the EC on fait accompli and thus get permission they will be disappointed.

The AP-1000 Westinghouse reactors – what are the facts

• In the USA, construction of two Westinghouse AP-1000 units began in 2013 at the Summer Nuclear Power Plant (in South Carolina).
• In 2017, due to unrestrained cost growth, construction was halted with over $9 billion invested to date.
• In 2013 in the USA (in Georgia) construction began on two units of the same type at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant. They are due to enter service in 2023-2024.
• Construction time 10 years instead of the 5 years promised at the beginning.
• Cost about $35 billion instead of $14 billion promised at start of construction.

Most expensive reactors in the history of nuclear power.

• The cost of electricity produced by these reactors is $170-180 per MWh.
• There is no nuclear power plant built in Europe with these reactors.
• In 2017, Westinghouse declared bankruptcy and set in motion a series of lawsuits, a direct consequence of the Summer NPP debacle and the $9 billion lost. As of 2018, it has a new owner. Toshiba Corp sold its ownership for $4.6 billion to Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.

 Conclusions:

• The cost of Kozloduy 7-8 will be over $30 billion instead of the promised $14 billion. This will condemn our country to huge and unaffordable debts.
• No major growth in electricity demand is projected in the coming decades. A new nuclear power plant is not needed for the country’s electricity balance.
• In 2024 alone, 481 new RES with a capacity of 938 MW have been commissioned in Bulgaria. In just 1 year new RES with a capacity of approximately one reactor in a NPP.
• After a minimum of 10 years of new NPP construction, new reactors will be completely unnecessary due to the rapid development of renewable energy technologies and especially energy storage technologies.
• The Kozloduy 7-8 project is contrary to the demographic, economic and energy development of the country.
• The price of the electricity produced by the new NPP makes it unsaleable on the liberalised European electricity market.
• The high price of energy from the new NPP poses a danger that Bulgaria will guarantee the purchase of the energy produced by the plant, this is a huge market risk for the country for decades and will destabilize the economy for a long time. With a lower energy price on the market, the state will make up the difference at taxpayers’ expense.
• The nuclear lobby’s attempts to push through a new nuclear power plant project at Kozloduy have the effect of diverting public attention from advancing existing, affordable, sustainable and cheaper solutions to the energy transition.
• We live in a very insecure and war-torn and conflict-ridden world. The example of the occupation by Russian troops of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhya, and its decommissioning is indicative of how vulnerable countries relying on nuclear power plants are.

We offer :

1. The Government to show the will and responsibility to protect the public interest. It will be a very good example for future governors.
2. Immediate termination of contracts, agreements, annexes to contracts with Westinghouse and Hyundai due to the economic unviability of the Kozloduy 7-8 project. The examples we have given of Westinghouse reactors being built in the USA are indicative enough of slow construction and very expensive energy.
3. Termination of meetings and agreements to negotiate loans for the construction of Kozloduy 7-8 with the US EXIM Bank, South Korean banks and any other foreign banks. Generations of Bulgarians will pay back these loans for an unnecessary nuclear project.
4. The US can be a very useful partner in energy efficiency , in new energy storage technologies instead of offering unnecessary and expensive reactors for NPP.
5. Immediately stop spending from the government guarantee to start the project.
6. It is highly likely that Kozloduy 7-8 will never be built, but any possibility of siphoning funds from the budget must be stopped, following the example of the corrupt Belene NPP project.
7. The government should adopt decentralisation of electricity generation as a priority in the energy sector. This will ensure real energy independence for the country and its citizens.
8. Household access to renewable energy and energy storage technologies.
9. Focus on energy efficiency, the cheapest energy is the energy saved.
10. Support for the development of energy communities that significantly increase local energy independence , and this is very important in times of global energy crises.

Contact:
Todor Todorov
Coordinator in the Just Transition Department at Environmental Association Za Zemiata
t.todorov@zazemiata.org
+359887122801