Bulgaria on brink of nuclear deal to reduce reliance on Russia
Source: Reuters
Bulgaria, one of five EU states that depend totally on Russia for nuclear fuel, is set to take a step towards diversifying its suppliers when Westinghouse Electric Company buys a stake in a state-controlled firm building new atomic units.
Westinghouse, the world's largest nuclear fuel producer and part of Japan's Toshiba group, has concluded talks with the Balkan country to take a 30 percent stake in Kozloduy NPP - New Build, which is building new units at the Kozloduy nuclear site in Bulgaria.
"The talks have concluded. The shareholder agreement now is pending approvals from state Bulgarian Energy Holding and I hope it can be signed in the coming week," Ivan Genov, chief executive of the Kozloduy nuclear plant told Reuters on Sunday.
The deal paves the way for Bulgaria to start negotiations for the financing and the construction of one Westinghouse AP-1000 nuclear reactor, estimated to cost about $5 billion.
Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/06/bulgaria-nuclear-westinghouse-idINL6N0PG0KR20140706
