Bulgaria reported to the EC its progress on the decommissioning of the small units of the Kozloduy NPP

On November 8, 2022, a Monitoring Committee* was held in Luxembourg for the implementation of the Kozloduy Program for the decommissioning of units 1-4 of the Kozloduy NPP. This was announced by the State Enterprise "Radioactive Waste".

The meeting was co-chaired by Massimo Gariba - Deputy Director-General of DG Energy of the European Commission (EC) with the departments "Nuclear Energy, Safety and ITER", "Euratom Safety Measures" and by the Deputy Minister of Energy Elenko Bozhkov , as Program Coordinator on the part of the Republic of Bulgaria under the Program for Decommissioning Units 1-4 of the Kozloduy NPP.

The meeting was also attended by: on behalf of the EC - Jan Panek, Director of DG "Energy" and other representatives of the Directorate, members of the management team of MF "Kozloduy" from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as experts from Ministry of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) and the State Enterprise "Radioactive Waste" (DP RAO).

During the Committee meeting, a report was presented on the activities related to the decommissioning of the 440-megawatt units in the first half of 2022.

The biggest achievement in the implementation of the Kozloduy Program in this period is the successful completion of the deactivation of the first circuit of units 1-4 of the nuclear power plant, it was reported during the meeting. Another focus for DP RAO is the dismantling of equipment in a controlled area and progress towards specific objectives. During the reporting period, the 5th campaign of the Plasma Incineration Facility was completed. Within the framework of the report, it is noted that construction activities on the National Repository for low- and medium-level radioactive waste continue to be carried out in a safe manner.

The monitoring committee accepted without objection the presented report for the first six months. The previous EC and EBRD monitoring mission in Kozloduy, held on October 20-21 this year, also contributed to the approval. As part of the mission, the participants conducted an extensive tour of facilities, which included: premises in the Controlled Zone of Block 1-4, the site of the National Repository, a newly constructed production workshop for reinforced concrete containers for packaging RW.

In accordance with the Regulation of the European Union on the provision of non-grant financial assistance to Bulgaria in the process of decommissioning nuclear facilities and the procedures applicable to it, the implementation of the activities financed by the Kozloduy MF are subject to regular monitoring. Under current rules, progress under the Withdrawal Program is reviewed every six months in several successive steps. DP RAO prepares a Monitoring Report presenting the implementation of the planned activities for the relevant period, which is certified by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and submitted to DG Energy of the European Commission. This is followed by a visit to the "Kozloduy" site by representatives of the EC with the aim of immediate on-site monitoring of the implementation of the activities specified in the document. The procedure ends with a final meeting of the Committee, at which the results of the monitoring are summarized and the Monitoring Report is adopted accordingly.

*Regulation (EURATOM) No. 2021/100