ДП РАО » Управление на РАО от АЕЦ

(Български) ДП РАО затвори лицензионния цикъл за следващите 10 години

infocenter — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 08:31:03 +0000

Polish experts rely upon the experience of SERAW in decommissioning and radioactive waste management activities

infocenter — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 07:26:55 +0000

Experts from the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) and the Radioactive Waste Management Plant (ZUOP) of Poland found the experience of State Enterprise Radioactive Waste impressive after the end of a scientific visit for technical cooperation, which took place in the period 23-30 July. The visit was initiated by the Polish country, which has yet to build nuclear power facilities, and was jointly organized by the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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.

The Kozloduy Programme Monitoring Mission for the 1st half of the year is now complete

infocenter — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:30:10 +0000

In the period 3-5 October 2023, a mission was held at State Enterprise Radioactive Waste to report on the progress of activities on implementation of the Kozloduy Programme for Decommissioning of the shutdown 440-megawatt units of the Nuclear Power Plant, being implemented by the enterprise.
The following officials took part in the monitoring of the current Programme implementation for the first half of 2023: Massimo Garribba, Deputy Director-General of Directorate-General for Energy
(DG ENER) with the European Commission (EC), responsible for Directorates “Nuclear Energy, Safety and ITER” and “EURATOM safeguards”; Gianfranco Brunetti, Deputy Head of Unit, “Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning”, DG ENER (D2), European Commission and Michel Sonck from the same unit; Valentin Šeider, Associate Director – Head of KIDSF, Nuclear Safety Department, EBRD; Nikolay Nikolov, Deputy Minister of Energy, in the capacity of Programme Coordinator on behalf of the Republic of Bulgaria for the Decommissioning Programme; Dilyan Petrov, SERAW Executive Director and senior management representatives of the enterprise.
During their three-day visit, the representatives of the EC, EBRD and the Ministry of Energy walked down the Controlled Areas of Specialized Divisions Radioactive Waste – Kozloduy and Decommissioning of Units 1 to 4, visited the Size Reduction and Decontamination Workshop for decommissioning materials, the Plasma Melting Facility, the Turbine Hall of the lower power units, where the production of reinforced-concrete containers is currently being carried out, as well as the reconstructed building in which this production is to be set up in the future. The delegation was particularly impressed after visiting the building site of the National Disposal Facility for Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste, where a crucial stage of the facility construction was recently completed – the erection of the mobile roofs over the RAW disposal cells, as well as the 30-tonne overhead bridge crane, which will be used for the stacking operations of the reinforced-concrete containers loaded with waste.

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

At the initiative of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, experts from the Turkish Nuclear Regulatory Authority visited SERAW facilities

infocenter — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 09:50:19 +0000

Nine experts from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Turkiye visited on 6 December 2022 facilities of State Enterprise Radioactive Waste to get acquainted, on-the-spot, with Bulgaria’s experience in the field of radioactive waste management. Turkey expressed its interest following the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation and information exchange in the field of nuclear safety and security signed this year with the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA). The agreements between the two parties provide for another visit of experts from the Turkish regulator at the end of January 2023.

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 Nuclear Energy Agency and SERAW held an introductory meeting

infocenter — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 15:04:43 +0000

On 20 January 2021, the first working meeting between State Enterprise Radioactive Waste and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) within the framework of the Organization for Economic Co operation and Development* took place via videoconference, following the official ceremony on the occasion of Bulgaria’s accession to the Agency held the previous day.

The NEA Director-General, William Magwood, IV, the Deputy Director-General for Management and Planning, Nobuhiro Muroya, as well as other management representatives and experts in the Agency, took part in the discussion on behalf of the NEA. Sergey Tsochev, member of the SERAW’s Management Board, presented the statute of the enterprise as a national operator for radioactive waste management, the activities of the Specialized Divisions and future challenges faced by the organization. Rebecca Tadesse, Head of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning Division at the NEA, gave details of the structure and methods of work in the committees and expert groups in the Agency, through which the cooperation between the member states is implemented. SERAW’s management representatives joined the subsequent discussion as well by discussing the areas in which the enterprise will share Bulgaria’s experience in radioactive waste management and decommissioning of shutdown nuclear facilities.

* The Nuclear Energy Agency is an intergovernmental agency operating within the framework of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It facilitates co operation among countries with advanced nuclear technology infrastructures to seek excellence in nuclear safety, technology, science, environmental protection, economic issues and law. The mission of the NEA is to assist its member states in maintaining and further developing, through international co operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally sound and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

On 1 January 2021, Bulgaria officially became the 34th member state of the NEA.

Pictured: The NEA Director-General, William Magwood, IV visited SERAW’s facilities on 2 September 2019, as part of the preparations for Bulgaria’s accession to the Agency.

Radioactive waste route during outage of nuclear facilities

infocenter — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:02:56 +0000

In the period from 22nd September to 24th October 2019, a scheduled outage was carried out on Unit 6 at Kozloduy NPP. The total amount of radioactive waste (RAW) generated during the outage was transported for processing and storage to SD “RAW – Kozloduy”. This RAW is low- and intermediate level radioactive waste: solid RAW – equipment, protective clothing, metals, construction and insulation materials; liquid RAW – aqueous solutions, suspensions, concentrates, oils. The safe transportation of the RAW to SD “RAW – Kozloduy” is of particular importance to the process of management of RAW from outages.
Each transportation operation is performed according to an order or permit to work registered in a “Logbook of permits to work and orders” of the shift supervisor at the Radioactive Waste Processing Plant (RAWPP). For the purpose of ensuring RAW transportation and receipt, a rigorous organisation has been established for implementation of the activities and coordination between the different organisational units, with all the responsibilities precisely allocated. The transportation of solid RAW on the site is in fact carried out in 2 m3 and 6 m3 reinforced concrete containers, as well as in bioshielded containers in a closed loading compartment (radwaste shipping container) of a specialized transport vehicle, which is equipped with a system for securing the load to the floor or the loading section’s walls. The common integrated structure consisting of the package and the system for management thereof shall not break the integrity during normal transportation conditions.
Type of containers
Metal radwaste containers – 2 m3 (load capacity – 0.9 t) and 6 m3 (load capacity – 2.7 t) are transported by a specialized transport vehicle with a closed loading compartment for one or two containers simultaneously.
Bioshielded radwaste containers – 0.2 m3 (load capacity – 0.25 t, tare weight 2.25 t and 2×0.2 m3 (load capacity – 2×0.25 t, tare weight 2 t) are transported one at a time by a specialized transport vehicle of load capacity larger than the weight of the bioshielded container, with closed loading compartment.
The radwaste containers are placed in transport corridors or other temporary collection points for RAW.
Specialized RAW transportation equipment
Any specialized transport vehicle transporting RAW, for the purpose of ensuring safety and protection of personnel, is escorted by a car of the Site Monitoring Section (SM), equipped with a radiation monitoring equipment, personal protective equipment and decontamination equipment, fire extinguishing equipment and portable radiation hazard warning signs, equipment for cordoning the contaminated area off in case of emergency event, prohibitory signs, emergency stop warning signs, audible and light alarm. When transporting RAW, the accompanying Radiological Safety Officer from SM section is responsible for radiation protection outside the Controlled Area.
RAW transportation documents
For each RAW transportation operation, a record containing information about the radiation parameters of the packages, radwaste containers, shipping container and the transport vehicle, is drawn up. Compliance thereof with the RAW transportation criteria is thereby ensured. Transportation activities under special programmes of Kozloduy NPP related to outages of the Units, are staffed by an order of the SERAW’s Executive Director; based on the order, schedules are prepared to ensure twenty-four-hour preparedness for the implementation thereof.

Amount of RAW during the outage of Unit 6 of Kozloduy NPP in 2019
The amounts of RAW received at SD “RAW – Kozloduy” from Kozloduy NPP during the outage, are:
- Compactible solid RAW – 127.89 cubic metres;
- Metal RAW – 7.94 tonnes.

(Български) “ПРИКЛЮЧИХМЕ ВАЖНИ ПРОЕКТИ, СТАРТИРАМЕ НОВИ”

infocenter — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 12:00:52 +0000

Regarding the retirement process in SERAW

ДП РАО — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 15:41:25 +0000

Not long ago, a statement of Dimitar Manolov – President of Confederation of Labour Podkrepa, was distributed in the public domain in relation to the process of retirement of workers and employees of State Enterprise Radioactive Waste. The document includes facts, classifications and interpretations which could mislead public opinion and judgment of the situation. In this regard, the SERAW Management wants to clarify the following:
In pursuance of Grant Agreement No. 048 of 13 January 2014, concluded between the Ministry of Economy and Energy, SERAW and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the implementation of the Decommissioning programme, the number of personnel involved in the decommissioning process shall be in compliance with the parameters of Annex No.9 of the Grant Agreement. According to the document SERAW is to reduce the operational personnel and to increase the personnel related to the decommissioning works. These targets can be accomplished either by pre-qualifying SERAW employees and workers for new positions, or by employing new personnel suitable for the decommissioning activities.
The personnel involved in Specialised Division Decommissioning – Units 1-4
(SD Decommissioning Units 1-4) to its most part had not been selected and employed by SERAW, but transferred from Kozloduy NPP by decrees of Council of Ministers under Art.123 of the Labour Code and these are specialists involved in their occupational careers mainly in the operational activities and not in the decommissioning of nuclear power units. Moreover, during the last personnel transfer under the order described above on 01 March 2013, it became clear that many of the people are of retirement age or close thereto.
At the end of the 2015, SERAW terminated the employment with approximately 30 people, mostly SD Decommissioning Units 1-4 employees who are of retirement age or are not suitable for activities related to the decommissioning of the shutdown units. Due to production necessity some of them were re-assigned to positions for which they will be pre-qualified and will be in compliance with the establishment plan’s requirements according to the agreement with EBRD. The employees with terminated employment due to acquired pension rights were compensated in accordance with Art. 222, para. 3 of the Labour Code. In due time before the termination of the employment with workers of retirement age, the SERAW management informs the labour organisations’ representatives about the upcoming exercise of the Employer’s right to unilaterally terminate the employment of those of retirement age. Up to this moment the representatives of the labour organisations in SERAW have not expressed any negative considerations regarding these acts.
Throughout 2015, the employees from the two SERAW specialised divisions on the Nuclear Power Plant site, who have been released due to reaching retirement age, number 63 in total. The number of new employment is 71, 17 of them being under the age of 30.
Currently the total number of employed people in the four specialised divisions of SERAW and the Main Office is 1010.

Specialised Division for RAW processing reported overfulfilment of its programme in 2015 and makes preparations for equipment modernisation

ДП РАО — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 11:25:57 +0000

For Specialised Division Radioactive Waste – Kozloduy (SD RAW – Kozloduy), 2015 was recorded as a year with fulfilled scheduled tasks regarding the receiving, processing and conditioning of radioactive waste (RAW). The receiving of the RAW amount declared by the Nuclear Power Plant for handover in 2015 was ensured through a Schedule for handover of RAW from KNPP Plc. to SD RAW – Kozloduy in 2015. The rest of the waste, not related to the current generation of RAW by the KNPP, is scheduled for receiving in accordance with the capabilities of the RAW processing lines of the RAW Treatment Plant. Priority is given to receiving of RAW from SD Decommissioning Units 1-4 followed by “historical” RAW, which has the role of a buffer that controls the loading of the processing lines. The Chief Engineer of the Specialised Division – Mr. Rumen Shishkov informed that “the significant increase of the percentage of solid RAW processed against the schedule (see the table below) is due to the constant challenges that our teams involved in the decommissioning are faced with, as well as the necessity for improving the infrastructure i.e. the sites for temporary storage of dismantled equipment.”
On 28 April 2015, the License awarded to SD RAW – Kozloduy for operation of a RAW management facility expired after a 7 year validity period. In this period all License conditions were fulfilled and duly reported to the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (BNRA). According to the Act on the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy, the preparations for renewal of the License for operation of a nuclear facility shall begin 18 months before the expiration of the valid one. During these months the specialists of
SD RAW – Kozloduy made a lot of efforts to prepare the documentation for the License renewal. Almost all effective internal regulations, instructions, procedures, including the Safety Analysis Report of the facility were updated. All documents were harmonised with the current legislation, good practices in the field of RAW management and the current state of the facility.

The new License, issued by BNRA, is of series E, registration No. 4805 of 28 April 2015, has a 10 year validity period. The maximum length of the validity of the Licence awarded as provided for by the Bulgarian legislation is recognition for the skills, experience and competence of the specialists in providing long term and safe operation of the RAW Management Plant.
During the second half of the last year, the efforts were focused on the Pre-design study for Reconstruction and Modernisation of structures, systems and components (SSC) supporting the technological process for treatment of RAW received at SD RAW-Kozloduy as a result of decommissioning activities on Units 1 to 4 of Kozloduy NPP. This modernisation started a new project by which SERAW applied for funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Terms of Reference for the design will be prepared in 2016 and submitted to EBRD for non-objection.

Implementation of the SD RAW – Kozloduy Schedule for the activities involving RAW processing and conditioning in 2015.

Activities	Completion towards the annual Schedule, in %
Receiving and processing of solid compactable and non-compactable (metal) RAW, m³	125
Receiving and processing of liquid RAW, m³	101
Decontamination of metal RAW, t	115

The Strategy for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste until 2030 will be updated

ДП РАО — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 07:10:43 +0000

The Ministry of the Energy published on its website a proposal for public hearing for the Strategy for management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste (RAW) until 2030. The updated plan was prepared in pursuance of the requirements of Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM for establishing a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. The project incorporates changes made in the national legislation and the regulatory basis. The strategic document defines the overall policy and principles in the field of the nuclear fuel usage by covering the specific phases of the SNF management and all types of RAW under the jurisdiction of Republic of Bulgaria. The draft-strategy describes the practical solutions planned and implemented, the condition and the operation of the exiting facilities as well as the steps for the implementation of new facilities.
More details and the complete text of the document (in Bulgarian):
http://www.me.government.bg/bg/discussion-news/strategiya-za-otraboteno-yadreno-gorivo-i-radioaktivni-otpadaci-do-2030-g-2080-m0-a0-1.html