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Nuclear Energy Profile - Bulgaria

2008 Overview of the Country’s Reactor and Waste Storage Facilities

Nov 23, 2008

As part of a European Union membership agreement, Bulgaria closed four of its six nuclear reactors, but two modern replacement units are under construction at Belene.

Nuclear power in Bulgaria currently produces about 35% of the country’s electricity. Due to slow growth in domestic electricity consumption, Bulgaria has become a significant energy exporter, providing seven billion kilowatt hours to Greece, Turkey, Serbia and Macedonia.

Currently Operating Reactors

Bulgaria currently has two operational reactors at the Kozloduy facility (Units 5 and 6). Both reactors are PWR model V-320 units with capacities of 953 net MWe. Unit 5 began commercial operations in September 1988 and Unit 6 in December 1993.

Kozloduy units 1 and 2 were closed on December 31, 2002 as part of an agreement for the country’s accession to the European Union. The same agreement set 2006 as the closure date for units 3 and 4. The Bulgarian government felt Kozloduy’s units 3 and 4 had achieved safety levels comparable to other reactors in Western Europe of a similar age and therefore attempted to keep the units operational until their 30-year licenses expired in 2011 and 2013. Reluctantly, the government finally acquiesced to EU demands and ordered the reactors to be shutdown at the end of December 2006.

Belene - Additional Capacity

The construction of a second nuclear power plant with four reactors at Belene was initially approved by the Council of Ministers in March 1981. Between 1988 and 1990, 40% of work on Reactor 1 was completed and 80% of the equipment was in place. However, democratic changes in Bulgaria caused the project to be abandoned in 1990.

In late 2002, the Bulgarian Council of Ministers agreed to restart the project due to the EU agreement to shutdown four units at the Kozloduy plant. The government altered Belene’s initial plans and signed a contract in 2008 with Russia’s Atomstroyexport (ASE) to build the plant with two 1,000 MWe AES-92 VVER third-generation reactors. The first unit is expected to be online at the end of 2013 and the second in mid-2014.

The new AES-92 VVER reactors meet stringent western European safety standards and are more acceptable to the European Union than the initial construction plans with older technology VVER-1000/320 reactors.

Fuel Cycle and Waste Management

All Bulgaria’s fuel cycle services are provided by Russia’s TVEL through Technabexport (Tenex). Much of the country’s waster management is handled by the Bulgarian State Enterprise Radioactive Wastes (SE-RAW).

Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is conducted at Russia’s Mayak plant at Ozersk ,though some material has also been sent to the Zheleznogorsk plant at Krasnoyarsk. This arrangement is based on a 2002 agreement in which Bulgaria pays Russia $620,000 US per ton of spent fuel.

In 1990, a pool-type Spent Fuel Storage Facility (SFSF) was constructed at Kozloduy for temporary storage of nuclear waste materials. A new dry storage facility for 2,800 VVER-440 spent fuel assemblies is currently being built near Kozloduy. This facility will later be expanded to accommodate 8,000 VVER-440 and 2,500 VVER-1000 fuel assemblies.

Kozloduy is also home to a low and intermediate level radioactive waste treatment and storage facility. A new 50,000 cubic meter near-surface repository to be constructed by SE-RAW is expected to go into operation ini 2015.

Regulations

Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry is ultimately responsible for the country’s nuclear power industry. The Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) is responsible for safety and radiation protection at nuclear installations, and also the management of radioactive waste.

The Ministry of Health determines relevant radiation protection standards and the Environment Ministry monitors radiation levels across the country.

References

NPP Kozloduy Official Website.

Nuclear Power in Bulgaria. World Nuclear Association. May 2008.

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