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The State Enterprise Radioactive Waste started the construction of National Disposal Facility for Low- and IntermediateLevel Radioactive Waste

29.08.2017

Minister of Energy – Mrs. Temenuzhka Petkova planted a plane-tree on the groundbreaking ceremony to remind the future generations of the responsibility of the energy industry to the people and nature.

Today, 29 August 2017, State Enterprise Radioactive Waste (SERAW) officially started the construction of the National Disposal Facility for Low- and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste (NDF). At a special ceremony at Site Radiana, Energy Minister Mrs. Temenuzhka Petkova and Executive Director of SERAW, Mr. Dilyan Petrov made a symbolic groundbreaking of the future NDF. Radiana Site , where the disposal facility will be erected, is located in the two-kilometre controlled access area of Kozloduy NPP. The event was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Valentin Yovev, Deputy Minister of Energy Krasimir Parvanov, Deputy Chairman of the Energy Committee in the National Assembly of Bulgaria Valentin Nikolov,the Member of the Parliament from Vratsa and a member of the Energy Committee in the National Assembly, Petya Avramova, the Mayor of Kozloduy, Marinella Nikolova, and representatives of the local government in the 30-kilometre zone around the Kozloduy NPP, the District Governor, Malina Nikolova, representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, the Executive Director of Kozloduy NPP, Ivan Andreev, managers of partner organizations, representatives of the project  designer’s, contractor’s and supervisor’s management teams, as well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The construction of the National Disposal Facility is set out in the updated National Strategy for Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste by 2030 and is a commitment taken by the Bulgarian Government to the European Commission. The project is funded through a Grant Agreement by Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund, administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the value of project’s first phase is  EUR 71 820 000. The construction works on Phase I are expected to be completed in 2021.

Following the EBRD Policies and Rules, a German-Bulgarian Consortium of five companies was selected as a Contractor of the NDF project, with NUKEM Technologies as a leading Partner having international experience with similar facilities.

The NDF is a facility with multi-barrier protection for long-term storage of radioactive waste which will be preliminary processed, secured and packed in reinforced concrete packages and it will be one of the most modern facilities of this type in Europe. The repository will be a facility of a near-surface, trench type with capacity of 138 200 m3.It will consists of several reinforced concrete underground structures (modules) separated by internal partition walls into individual cells. The repository is planned to be operational i.e. to be gradually filled up over a period of 60 years. It is then supposed to be closed. Throughout its operational life and for the next 300 years, the facility will be subject to constant control by the Authorities.

“The construction of the NDF is important for the future of the nuclear energy in Bulgaria because it allows the storage of RAW generated also from new nuclear power units. We rely on the expertise of international companies involved in the construction of the facility which will meet all standards”said the Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova.

In his speech, the Executive Director, Dilyan Petrov, pointed out that for the construction of the National Disposal Facility, SE RAW has carried out a detailed study of all suitable territories in the country and has evaluated the selected terrains by more than 30 criteria. The work on the project lasted more than 10 years. “The Repository will be used for disposal of radioactive waste generated only on the territory of the country. It will not accept any high level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel which require a repository of a different type”, so emphasized Dilyan Petrov. According to him the NDF will be used for storage oflow- and intermediate level radioactive waste from the Industry, Medicine and Science; wastes generated during the decommissioning of the Kozloduy NPP Units 1 to 4, as well as from the operation of future new nuclear power units.

The Project for the construction of a National Disposal Facility for Low- and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste was assigned to State Enterprise Radioactive Waste (SERAW) with a government decision from 2005 (Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 683 / 25.07.2005). Over time, this process was divided into three main stages: site selection, design and construction. After regional and detailed geological-geophysical-, geochemical-, engineering-geological- and hydro-geological studies were carried out, a preferred site was chosen, on which the National Disposal Facility will be built – Radiana Site.

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