Bulgaria’s National Assembly voted by 112 to 45, with 39 abstentions, in favour of a draft decision asking ministers to negotiate with the US government for a new AP1000 unit at Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

The agreement with France's Framatome follows a deal with US firm Westinghouse and is part of the Bulgarian nuclear power plant's diversification of nuclear fuel supply.

Kozloduy nuclear power plant's unit 5 is to switch from Russian fuel with a decade-long contract for Westinghouse to fabricate and deliver VVER-1000 nuclear fuel.

The National Assembly of Bulgaria voted by 156 to 47 to call on the Council of Ministers to ensure the licensing  and a contract for supply of non-Russian nuclear fuel is concluded by 2024.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov says he hopes to put "concrete proposals" to Greece within 12 months. It is believed that the plan would be for Greece to sign a long-term supply contract for energy from a new nuclear reactor in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Energy Holding has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with US engineering firm Fluor to look at the possibility of replacing coal boilers with NuScale small nuclear reactors, among other things. The country has committed to stop using coal for electricity generation by 2037 or 2040.

Profits from Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant are being redirected to provide subsidies of BGN110 (USD65) per MWh to industry. Some 630,000 industrial consumers will receive the benefit to protect them from power prices driven by gas.

Demands for new nuclear build in Bulgaria have intensified on the high price of coal-fired electricity and the need to replace the power plants that produce it. Bogomil Manchev, chairman of the Bulgarian Atomic Forum, used a newspaper interview to call on the government to make a plan to build at Belene as well as Kozloduy.

An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has completed a review of the long-term operational safety of units 5 and 6 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant in Bulgaria. The team assessed the plant's preparedness, organisation and programmes related to long-term operation against IAEA safety standards.

NuScale Power of the USA and Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant - New Build Plc have agreed to evaluate the suitability of NuScale's small modular reactor technology for deployment at the existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant site in Bulgaria. KNPP-NB is a public limited company established to commission new nuclear power capacity at the site.

A VVER-1000 fuel licensing agreement between Westinghouse Electric Company and Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant has been described as a major step forward in Bulgaria's energy supply diversification. The agreement covers the development of safety analyses for the licensing and implementation of alternative nuclear fuel for Kozloduy unit 5.

The Bulgarian Council of Ministers, at a meeting on 20 January, approved plans presented by the Minister of Energy to construct a seventh unit at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant using Russian-supplied equipment purchased for the Belene project. The minister noted discussions have been held with Westinghouse of the USA to construct the unit.