site.btaNuclear Regulatory Agency Amends Operating Licences for Kozloduy N-Plant Units 5 and 6

Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Chief Executive Officer Ivan Andreev received amended licences for the operation of Units 5 and 6 and the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel from Nuclear Regulatory Agency Chairman Tsanko Bachiyski, the NPP said on Monday. It was confirmed that the licences are not time-limited, in line with changes in national legislation implemented earlier this year.

The Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act mandates a periodic security review at least every 10 years. The Kozloduy NPP said the summarized findings of periodic reviews will continue to be submitted to NRA for review and approval.

Unit 6, after a shutdown on June 15 for planned preventive maintenance, was reconnected to the national power grid on July 8. This outage was required due to detected faults in the oil system of a 24/400kV transformer, a non-nuclear component of the unit, and signs of a thermophore leak in a steam generator.

Unit 5, upon completing an annual refurbishment, was reconnected to the national grid on June 10. RWFA-type cartridges, made by the US corporation Westinghouse as a component of the plant's diversification programme, were installed in the unit's reactor following NRA approval. Each annual scheduled refurbishment involves replacing a quarter of the reactor cartridges, indicating a four-year phased transition to the new nuclear fuel.