site.btaBulgaria Starts Building National Nuclear Waste Repository

Kozloduy, Northwestern Bulgaria, August 29 (BTA) - Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova turned the first sod for a National Nuclear Waste Repository Tuesday. The ceremony was held on the territory of Kozloduy N-Plant where the repository will be built.

Petkova noted that the project is extremely important for the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria as a considerable portion of the power generated in this country comes from the Kozloduy N-plant.

"The safe management of nuclear fuel and nuclear waste are among the priorities clearly set down in the government's programme," she added.

The construction of the new facility is part of Bulgaria's commitments as a EU member states operating nuclear energy facilities.

The National Repository will only store low- and medium-level radioactive waste, and that generated only on the territory of Bulgaria. It is not going to store high-level waste or spent fuel.

The repository will have a capacity of 138,200 cu m. Its design life is 60 years. The first stage of construction, in which 22 disposal cells will be built, will be completed in 2021.

The project is funded by the Kozloduy International Fund to the amount of 71,820,000 euro.

The Energy Ministry said that all international standards will be followed in the construction of the respository and that it will be one of Europe's state-of-the-art facilities of this kind.

The project is being implemented by the state-owned company Raioaktivni otpadutsi [Radioactive Waste]. Contractor in the first stage of construction is a Bulgarian-German consortium National Radioactive Waste Repository.