The facility is of much interest to the international professional community
On 12 and 13 January 2026, following an expressed interest by the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) of the Netherlands in the Plasma Melting Facility, State Enterprise Radioactive Waste (SERAW) hosted a visit by a team of five experts from the Dutch regulatory authority.
On the first day of the two-day visit, the Deputy Executive Director for Radioactive Waste Management, Georgi Razlozhki, and the Head of Plasma Melting Section, Iliyan Dimitrov, familiarized the specialists in detail with the technical features of the facility for treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste.
During the second day, the delegation visited the facility on site. Following a scheduled maintenance, the facility is now being made ready to start its ninth operational campaign. Since the first operational campaign, which began at the end of 2018, more than 6,300 cubic metres of radioactive waste have been treated. Over the most recent campaign, a total of 1,375 cubic metres of radioactive waste was treated, representing a record volume to date.
“Your assistance is extremely valuable to us. For us, this was a highly beneficial visit. We are impressed with the organisation, the comprehensive information provided by you, and your readiness to share your experience with us. We learned a great deal.”, so commented the participants in the visit.
The construction of a radioactive waste treatment and conditioning facility capable of achieving a high-volume reduction factor is among the most significant projects implemented through the support of the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF). The Plasma Melting Facility represents a unique technology, and through its capabilities of feeding various combinations of radioactive waste, it achieves a very high volume reduction factor that is difficult to achieve with other technologies. This ensures full compliance with all radioactive waste management principles, in particular, the disposal of minimal quantities and the avoidance of burdening the generations to come with the care of radioactive waste generated today.
The project was implemented by an international consortium. The facility was constructed to support the safe decommissioning of Units 1 to 4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, a responsibility entrusted to State Enterprise Radioactive Waste. In addition to waste from the units under decommissioning, the facility also treats radioactive waste generated from the operation of Units 5 and 6 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant.
