en.Wedoany.com Reported - Bulgaria's national low and intermediate level radioactive waste repository has been officially opened. It is expected to be filled over the next 60 years before being sealed, with its contents to be closely monitored for over 300 years.

According to Bulgaria's Ministry of Energy, the new national radioactive waste repository consists of 66 reinforced concrete structures with a total capacity of 19,000 containers, equivalent to 138,200 cubic meters. The ministry stated that the national repository is designed to store treated and safely conditioned radioactive waste generated entirely within Bulgaria. It will store low and intermediate level waste from industry, medicine, and household sources, as well as such waste generated from the decommissioning of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant Units 1-4 and the operation of future new nuclear facilities. High-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel will not be stored here.

Located near the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, the repository is a near-surface trench-type facility with multiple protective barriers, designed to store low and intermediate level radioactive waste in reinforced concrete containers. The first phase includes 22 concrete "cells" capable of holding 6,336 containers, which will be entirely used for waste from the decommissioning of Kozloduy Units 1 to 4.

The project was entrusted to the Bulgarian State Enterprise Radioactive Waste (SE RAW) by a government decision in 2005. Following regional and detailed geological, geophysical, geochemical, engineering-geological, and hydrogeological studies, the Radiana site was selected as the preferred location. Construction began in August 2017.

Energy Minister Traicho Traikov presided over the official opening ceremony. He expressed honor in unveiling what he called one of Bulgaria's most modern industrial buildings and one of the most modern storage facilities in Europe. Dilyan Petrov, Executive Director of SE RAW, stated that the facility was designed according to the highest safety requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with its primary function being to ensure reliable and permanent isolation of radioactive waste from humans and the environment.

Building the radioactive waste repository was part of Bulgaria's commitments upon joining the European Union. During EU accession negotiations, Bulgaria also committed to closing Kozloduy Units 1 and 2 by the end of 2002, and Units 3 and 4 by the end of 2006. These four units, all V-230 type VVER-440 reactors, had previously been deemed non-upgradable by the European Commission. Bulgaria joined the EU on January 1, 2007. The Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund, administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), provided grant funding for the project.

The repository officially opened after the National Construction Control Agency issued a certificate last month declaring the project completed according to all requirements. Last week, the country's nuclear regulatory agency issued the facility's commissioning license. In its announcement, the regulator stated that this new facility, the first of its kind in the Balkans, allows for the complete final disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive waste generated in Bulgaria. Its opening is part of the phased implementation plan of the "Strategy for Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste until 2030," with the main goal of establishing a sustainable and comprehensive management system for such waste.

Bulgaria currently operates two units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant with a total capacity of 2 GW. The country plans to build two Westinghouse AP1000 units at Kozloduy, in addition to several proposals for small modular reactors.

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