Chairman of the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (BNRA) Tsanko Bachiyski said that severing ties with Russia in the field of nuclear energy will be very unpleasant, because Bulgaria’s sole nuclear power plant Kozloduy is a Russian project. To a large extent, it depends on the carriers of this technology, he added.
Bachiyski said that the imposition of sanctions against Russia in the field of nuclear energy may affect the management of spent fuel. In addition, Kozloduy NPP can operate for another 30 years. Therefore, in any case, the nuclear power plant needs the support of the chief designer and the chief scientific leader of the project.
He argued that its important to be careful when discussing nuclear sanctions against Russia. Such sanctions have not been imposed at the moment. Moreover, Bulgaria is not the only country that depends on Russian technology in the European Union. The reason is that the nuclear fuel comes from Russia and arrives by ship to Bulgaria.
The BNRA’s view is that the imposition of sanctions against Russia in the field of nuclear energy should be approached very carefully, because not only the operation of NPP Kozloduy can be affected, but also its safety. The agency said that spent fuel nuclear should not stay in Bulgaria and should be taken out of the country for processing, if not to Russia, then to another country. Anyway, by 2032, Bulgaria will have no problems exporting spent nuclear fuel.
According to Bachiyski, there is no danger that NPP Kozloduy will run out of fresh nuclear fuel at the moment. Unit 6 has fuel until 2027, and unit 5 will be loaded with the last Russian fuel this spring and can operate until April 2024. In case the Westinghouse fuel is not licensed by then, fuel from unit 6 can be used. According to the existing contract, the Russian company TVEL must make two deliveries of fresh nuclear fuel per year until 2025.
