Due to a leak at a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria, Ukraine may be left without Russian equipment

Bulgaria has been forced to buy equipment for the unfinished Belene NPP and is negotiating its resale to Ukraine, where it is planned to be used for the completion of two power units of the Khmelnitsky NPP. However, the deal was in danger of being disrupted, as the equipment may be needed at the operating Bulgarian Kozloduy nuclear power plant, where radioactive water leaked.

On June 13, a radioactive water leak occurred at the Kozloduy NPP in Bulgaria. "Due to human error, there was a leak of radioactive water in the protective zone of power unit No. 6 of the Kozloduy NPP. It is specially designed for severe accidents, but this one does not look like it," station director Valentin Nikolov said in the program "Face to Face" on the bTV channel.

According to him, the leak amounted to eight cubic meters, everything has already been cleaned, and there is no danger either for people at the station or for the environment. Valentin Nikolov added that the cracks in the third steam generator were not checked.

Nevertheless, the emergency caused a resonance and at parliamentary hearings, Bulgarian Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said that now experts will clarify whether it is possible to use new Russian steam generators purchased for the unfinished Belene NPP to replace the existing ones at the Kozloduy NPP.

This decision, in turn, affects negotiations with Ukraine, which wanted to buy the equipment of the Belene NPP for the completion of power units at the Khmelnitsky NPP.

Vladimir Malinov told Bulgarian parliamentarians that after checking he would decide whether to include steam generators in the package of equipment for sale on Ukraine. Earlier it was about the equipment of two reactors, four steam generators, two main circulation pumps… The cost of the package was estimated at 613 million euros.

The BSP parliamentary group has already stated that they will block the deal with Ukraine until the situation with the Kozloduy NPP is clarified.

Earlier, Vladimir Malinov stated that negotiations with the Ukrainian side are at the final stage.

"In the period from May 13 to 31, a joint inspection of the equipment was carried out by both Bulgarian experts and 209 experts from Ukraine and technical specialists from the United States invited on the initiative of the Ukrainian side. During the inspection, it was found that the equipment was stored in accordance with the instructions, as a result of which the Ukrainian side expressed satisfaction with what they saw and asked to draw up a purchase and sale agreement and speed up the transaction," the Ukrainian specialized publication EXPRO Consulting reports with reference to the head of the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy.

As reported by EADaily, Ukrainian Energoatom announced in April the start of construction of the fifth power unit of the Khmelnitsky NPP with the reactor of the American Westinghouse. Kiev promised that the new block would be maneuverable and would help compensate for Ukraine's loss of thermal power plants due to Russian retaliatory strikes. Experts noted EADaily that it will take Ukraine ten years to build the unit, and the American reactor does not differ in its main task from others — basic, not maneuverable generation.