Extending the lifespan of the two operating units at Kozloduy nuclear power plant is of paramaount importance for the Bulgarian coalition government, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Friday.

The two Russian-made units of 1,000 MW each generate 34% of Bulgaria’s electricity output. The exploitation licence of Unit 5 expires in 2017 and the license of Unit 6 - in 2019. The modernisation programme, which comprises measures related to the improving of the units’ reliability and safety, aims to extend the lifespan of the units by 20 years.

"Of the 242 measures planned for the first phase, 55 have been implemented and the others are in progress,” Petkova said at an international nuclear conference held at Riviera Holdiay Club north of the Black Sea city of Varna.

“In the second stage, a total of 228 measures have been planned and and they will be implemented within the deadlines," Petkova added, according to a statement from the Energy Ministry.

Kozloduy CEO Dimitar Angelov told the conference that the plant would submit by September 2016 the documents required for extending the operational life of Unit 5 to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency.

Temenuzhka Petkova also said that the potential construction of Unit 7 in Kozloduy must be an economically justified project, which will require no state guarantees and will be implemented by strategic investors.

The conditions put forward by the government aim to “prevent mixing the cost of electricity generated by Units 5 and 6 with that from a potential seventh reactor", Petkova said

In April, Petkova told a committee in Parliament that Bulgaria was looking for a strategic investor who would commit to expanding the country’s nuclear power capacities according to the conditions set by the government.

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