BTA. Westinghouse Signs Partnership Agreements with Five Bulgarian Companies for AP1000 Reactor for Kozloduy NPP

SOFIA, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS/BTA. Westinghouse Electric Company Thursday signed partnership agreements with five Bulgarian companies which will participate ina project for an AP1000 reactorto be located at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant's site. The agreements were signed in the office of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria.

The five companies are OSKAR EL, GBS (Glavbolgarstroy), ENPRO Consult, EnergoService and EQE. The participants in the meeting agreed that this is the essence of harnessing the local potential of business and academia, which is defined by the concept of localization.

OSKAR EL is specialized in еngineering in electric control and process automation. It designs and builds electrical control systems for machinery and equipment of projects in the energy sector.

GBS specializes in the construction of energy, transport and water infrastructure, as well as residential, commercial and industrial construction projects.

ENPRO Consult is one of the leading engineering companies in Bulgaria with extensive experience in industrial technologies.

EnergoService is on a mission to deliver engineering solutions and products which meet client requirements and conform to the most stringent safety standards for nuclear and conventional power plants.

EQE Bulgaria, established in 1992 as joint venture with majority shareholder EQE International, Inc., spans the full range of engineering analysis, design, safety and risk services, supervision, inspections, project management and management systems.

Energy Minister Rumen Radev said this is a very important step in the implementation of the AP1000 technology at the Kozloduy NPP site. He pledged the Government's and the Energy Ministry's help with whatever is needed to implement the project.

Parliamentary Energy Committee Chairman Delyan Dobrev said everyone is motivated by the fact that this could become the first AP1000 reactor to go on stream in Europe.

US Ambassador Kenneth Merten commented this was the first of many steps in this process. He said this was a good day for the partnership between Bulgaria and the US, and between Westinghouse and the Bulgarian companies.

Westinghouse has been developing engineering activities in Bulgaria for over 10 years, and a major programme to upgrade systems at the Kozloduy NPP is currently underway.

(This information is being published according to an agreement between Armenpress and BTA.)