The purpose of the scientific visit was for the Polish experts to familiarize themselves in due time with various aspects of decommissioning, radioactive waste management (RAW), as well as with the related regulatory activities.

The Polish delegation visited the Permanent Repository for RAW near Novi han to learn firsthand about the more important issues, linked with the monitoring programme, waste acceptance criteria and subsequent management thereof. In the following days of the visit, the focus shifted on the activities of the Specialized Divisions of SERAW at Kozloduy site. In a number of meetings, presentations and discussions at the Information Centre for Decommissioning, experts and part of the management of the Enterprise explained the main points in implementation of the Decommissioning Programme, RAW management, as well as further disposal. The Polish delegation had the opportunity to familiarize themselves visually with SERAW organisation and actual work processes by visiting in-situ the Turbine Hall of Units 1 to 4, Control Room – 2, Free Release Measurement Facility, Size Reduction & Decontamination Workshop, Storage Facility for temporary storage of conditioned RAW and the National Disposal Facility for low- and intermediate-level RAW on Radiana site. At the end of the visit, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Tsanko Bachiyski, and the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency of Poland, Andrzej Głowacki, joined the group of Polish experts. Both of them also participated in the final meeting of the scientific visit to SERAW Head Office, where they had a formal conversation with the Chairman of the Management Board of the Enterprise, Sergey Tsochev, on the outcome of the visit and the prospects of strengthening professional relationship.

“We would like to thank you for the hospitality and overall organisation, for the comprehensive informational presentations and for the opportunity to visit real operating facilities of SERAW. The experience of the Bulgarian experts in the field of RAW management is impressive. The SERAW experts gave us many good examples of safe and sustainable radioactive waste management. We are impressed with the successful implementation of the National Disposal Facility project. We look forward to future collaboration,” shared the representatives of the Polish RAW Disposal Enterprise upon ending their scientific visit.

Poland is one of the few countries in the former Socialist Bloc to remain without a nuclear power plant. Currently, the energy transition plans are ambitious, and over the recent years the country has been actively working to build nuclear power facilities.

In accordance with Council Regulation of the European Union on the provision of grant funds to Bulgaria in the process of decommissioning of nuclear facilities* and the applicable procedures, the implementation of activities which are financed by the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF), shall be subject to regular monitoring. Pursuant to the current rules, the Decommissioning Programme progress shall be monitored every six months in several successive steps. SERAW shall draft a Monitoring Report presenting the implementation of the planned activities for the respective period, which shall be reviewed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and submitted to the Directorate-General for Energy (ENER) of the European Commission (EC). This is followed by on-the-spot visit to the Kozloduy site by European Commission representatives in order to directly monitor on-the-spot 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 shall be summarised and the Monitoring Report shall accordingly be approved.
*COUNCIL REGULATION (EURATOM) 2021/100

The Fund for financing the decommissioning of the Krško NPP and the disposal of radioactive waste and spent fuel from Krško NPP was established in compliance with the requirements of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on Regulation of the Status and Other Legal Relations Regarding the Investment, Use and Dismantling of Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which was put into commercial operation in 1983 under a joint-venture project between the two countries, which at that time were the Union Republics of the former Yugoslavia.

Within the framework of their first visit, the delegation, led by the Vice President of the Turkish regulator, Oğuz Can, and the Chairman of the NRA, Tsanko Bachiyski, visited the Plasma Melting Facility, the Specialized Division for Processing and Interim Storage of Radioactive Waste from NPP operations and Radiana Site where the National Disposal Facility for Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste is currently being built.
At the Information Centre for Decommissioning, the achievements and progress of the Enterprise in the field of radioactive waste management were extensively presented to the guests from our southern neighbouring country.

The Monitoring Mission team was composed of: on the part of Bulgaria – Miroslav Damianov, Deputy Minister of Energy; on the part of EC – Jan Panek, Director, Directorate-General for Energy, Gianfranco Brunetti, Deputy Head of Unit D2, Directorate-General for Energy and Carlos Alvarez Aguilera, Policy Officer – Decommissioning Sector, ENER D2, Directorate-General for Energy; on the part of the EBRD – Valentin Šeider, Associate Director – Head of KIDSF, Nuclear Safety Department. They witnessed, on the spot, the current status of the Decommissioning Programme for the shutdown 440-megawatt reactors of the nuclear power plant. During the two-day visit, the Mission members visited the facilities of Specialised Divisions ‘Decommissioning of Units 1-4’ and ‘RAW Kozloduy’, namely, the Plasma Melting Facility, the Size Reduction and Decontamination Workshop for decommissioning materials, the building which is in the process of reconstruction and intended to be used for the production of reinforced-concrete containers, the construction site of the National Disposal Facility for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste, as well as the building of the newly-built Information Centre for Decommissioning. After being made aware of the most significant achievements in the decommissioning process, and the objectives achieved during the reporting period for the first half of 2021, the Monitoring Mission team held a meeting with SERAW Executive Director, Dilyan Petrov, and also with senior management representatives from the Enterprise.

Among the main topics discussed during the meeting were the implementation of the scheduled deadlines for the individual projects and activities related to the overall decommissioning process, the impact of the COVID pandemic, the need for joint analyses of the progress of the programme, taking into account the experience gained from the similar programme at Bohunice V1 NPP, Slovakia, which is also supported by the Contributors. All participants in the discussions jointly concluded that the work of the Monitoring Mission is an important established practice, having a significant benefit for the ultimate goal – the safe decommissioning of the shutdown nuclear facilities.

At the end of the visit, Jan Panek summarised: “I think it is very important for us to come to Kozloduy often and monitor the progress of the projects. Our current visit is very special because we had a limited period of time in which it was not possible to travel to Bulgaria due to the COVID restrictions. So, I am very glad that we managed to make a complete tour not only of the facilities at the Kozloduy NPP site, but also of the National Disposal Facility for Radioactive Waste. Our visit to the new Information Centre for Decommissioning was undoubtedly essential, because we all know how important it is to provide information to the public, not only about future developments in the nuclear field, but also about the support provided by the European Union for these projects.”

The Monitoring Mission takes place every six months and is aimed at ascertaining the real progress of decommissioning activities and projects, which are financed through grant funds by the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF). Due to COVID-related restrictions, however, the established regularity of visits was disrupted, and the last visit of EC and EBRD representatives took place in October 2020.

In accordance with the Council Regulation of the European Union on the provision of grant funds to Bulgaria in the process of decommissioning of nuclear facilities* and the applicable procedures, the implementation of activities which are financed by the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF), shall be subject to regular monitoring. In accordance with the current rules, the Decommissioning Programme progress shall be monitored every six months in several successive steps. SERAW drafts a Monitoring Report presenting the implementation of the planned activities for the respective period, which is reviewed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and submitted to the Directorate-General for Energy (ENER) of the European Commission (EC). This is followed by on-the-spot visit to the Kozloduy site by representatives of the European Commission in order to directly monitor 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 summarised and the Monitoring Report is accordingly adopted.

* COUNCIL REGULATION (Euratom) 2021/100