MOSCOW — Rosatom State Corporation signed Memoranda of Understanding (M0Us) with Framatome SAS (France) and GE Steam Power in the framework of the strategic investor selection procedure for the Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Bulgaria. Kirill Komarov, first deputy director general of corporate development and international business of Rosatom, Frédéric Lelièvre, senior executive vice president in charge of sales, regional platforms and I&C of Framatome and Michael Keroulle, president of General Electric Steam Power, signed the M0Us. In accordance with the agreements, the companies will work together to participate in the tender for the construction of Belene NPP. As part of the agreement, if Rosatom State Corporation becomes a strategic investor of the project through a competitive process, General Electric will be considered as the partner of an Arabelle based turbine-generator set and Turbine Hall Equipment and Framatome SAS as the key partner of Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Systems for the Bulgarian NPP. “The signed MOUs underline a continuously high level of trust between our companies," said Komarov, adding, “I am sure that international cooperation between nuclear industry leaders will help create the best financial and technical conditions for the implementation of the Belene NPP." Earlier, Rosatom, Framatome SAS, and General Electric were included in the shortlist of five applicants for the Belene NPP, along with the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP). Rosatom has already successfully collaborated with Framatome SAS and General Electric on international projects, including the Paks-2 NPP (Hungary) and the Hanhikivi-1 NPP (Finland). The cooperation with General Electric is carried out within the framework of the Akkuyu NPP project in Turkey and the El-Dabaa NPP project in Egypt: a joint venture between GE and Rosatom is a supplier of equipment for the turbine island. — SG