Minister Radev: Doubling nuclear electricity in the next decade is a necessity

Tripling nuclear power by 2050 is a goal, but doubling it over the next decade is a necessity. This was said by Energy Minister Rumen Radev at the ministerial panel held after the high-level event in Dubai. At it, Bulgaria and 21 other countries from four continents adopted a Declaration for the tripling of nuclear energy by 2050, BTA reports.

For Bulgaria, the adoption of the declaration is an important historical moment, which shows the ambitious goals of our country to achieve sustainable decarbonization, the energy minister pointed out for BTA. In his words, the combination of low-emission energy, such as nuclear, renewable energy sources, development of energy storage systems, connectivity - internal and cross-border, is the future we are working for and which is part of the national energy strategy being developed.

Bulgaria is among the "countries with the most concrete participation" in the Declaration on the tripling of nuclear energy, given our categorical decision to build Units Seven and Eight at the Kozloduy NPP site, both with regard to the chosen "nuclear island" technology and for the overall technological complex, infrastructure, generator capacities, system connectivity. The procedure for block seven has already been activated and the selection of contractors and the final signing of the investment decision are pending, and with regard to block eight we are at the stage of starting the process for environmental impact assessment, recalled Minister Radev. He expressed hope that the construction of the facilities would be successful, probably with a gap of about three years.

The state is the one that should be the investor and owner, as well as the operator of this type of facilities, emphasized the energy minister.

The small modular reactors - with a capacity of less than 500 megawatts, which many of the participants in the event outlined as a promising technology given their flexibility and applicability, are an interesting possibility, but they cannot be an end in themselves, noted Minister Radev. Technologies are developing and we must follow this development, including nuclear fusion, he added.