Bogomil Manchev: If the 7th unit of the Kozloduy NPP is produced by Westinghouse, it will cost at least $11 bn

“A nuclear reactor using Generation III AP-1000 technologies and produced by American Westinghouse Corporation will cost between $11.2 bn and $11.7 bn,” Bogomil Manchev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Nuclear Forum and owner of Risk Engineering, told klassa.bg. Risk Engineering applied for carrying out the technical and economic analysis of the construction of Kozloduy NPP's 7th unit. According to Yordan Kostadinov, former CEO of the nuclear power plant, the amount is even higher. The American Westinghouse Corporation, which won the bid to carry out the technical and economic analysis for the construction of Kozloduy NPP's 7th unit, has already constructed 4 Generation III reactors in China and signed a contract this spring to construct two more units in the USA. Therefore, it is expected that the company will recommend, as a conclusion to its analysis, its own reactor to Kozloduy NPP.

“Presenting the Westinghouse reactor technology as the most appropriate will provoke a conflict of interest because the analysis is conducted by the same company,” Manchev pointed out. “Still, everything is possible,” Kostadinov stated. He said that the cost of this unit would be equivalent to the cost of two units at the Belene construction site because the infrastructure would have to be completed. The lack of such infrastructure was quoted as a defect of the Belene NPP.

“It would be absurd if Westinghouse recommends its own nuclear reactor because the European Commission accepts only objective analyses which indicate all possibilities, the implementation period, as well as the costs,” Valentin Nikolov, CEO of Kozloduy NPP, told klassa.bg. “The company handed us its report on its own reactor, but it will be included in the analysis together with all other options,” the NPP's CEO added. However, he commented that the reactor is much cheaper than $11 bn.

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