Westinghouse to Continue Talks with Bulgaria over Kozloduy NPP's Unit 7

US-based Westinghouse Electric Company said on Thursday it agreed to discuss a new timetable and structure of the project to build Unit 7 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear plant.

Westinghouse CEO Danny Roderick said the decision had been taken "jointly by all parties and reflects the present conditions in Bulgaria of support for an infrastructure project of such a scale."

This comes after Bulgaria set new conditions for Westinghouse to build Unit 7, tabling the prerequisite that it should provide substantial financing for the project and have a 49-percent stake in the project company.

The company was to accept or decline the new demands by March 31, when a shareholders agreement, signed with the previous elected government, expired.

Plamen Oresharski's cabinet signed the document in August of 2014, days before leaving office, passing a final decision on the project on to the next administration.

In a statement sent out to media outlets, Roderick said that "even though there is unanimity that this project is attractive in the long-term, [both] parties are of the opinion that different models of the incorporation of the AP1000 nuclear technology have to be considered."

He added that his company is satisfied with the cooperation it developed with the Kozloduy NPP, and will focus on the improvement of the country's nuclear capacities in the near future.

On Wednesday, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov reiterated the government's new demands, stating Bulgaria would be unable to carry out the project and will find it difficult to provide funding under the present conditions.

This was followed by a meeting of a presumed US delegation at Bulgaria's Energy Ministry that began on Thursday morning, with government...