Kozloduy NPP New Builds PLC team took part in a seminar on “Future and Integration of Information Technologies in Nuclear Energy”. The event coincided with the celebration of the 7th anniversary of the establishment of the Company. The meeting took place between 10-12 May 2019 in the village of Debrushtitsa, Pazardzhik, initiated by the Youth Association of the Bulgarian Nuclear Society, jointly with “Kozloduy NPP – New Builds PLC. The seminar also included experts from “Kozloduy NPP” PLC, SE RAW and university lecturers also took part in the seminar. Discussions were focused on the development of the Quantum Communication Competence Center, Intelligent Security Systems and Risk Management and the challenges of the digital transformation of the nuclear sector.

Bilyana Simeonova, Expert of Environment at Kozloduy NPP New Builds PLC, presented to the participants a report on the Environmental impact Assessment (EIA) procedure of a new nuclear power plant by informing the audience with the EIA of the investment proposal for construction of new nuclear unit at the site of NPP ” Kozloduy “.

The reliability and zero carbon emissions of nuclear energy as well as the importance and future of the electromobility as an environmentally friendly transport also were commented.

The event was closed by Mladen Mitev – Chairman of the Bulgarian Nuclear Society and Lyuben Marinov – Executive Director of “Kozloduy NPP – New Builds” PLC, who summarized that for the successful development of the nuclear energy in Bulgaria it is necessary first of all to attract more young people to find their professional realization in this sector. The conclusion was that the extension and deepening of the communication between the organizations involved in the seminar is a positive step in this direction.

The aim of the proposed initiative is to address the problem of lack of staff in the nuclear energy sector. According to Lyuben Marinov-executive director of Kozloduy NPP-new capacities “The lack of personnel is largely an error of the organizations in the nuclear sector. It is their responsibility to help create executives for the industry. According to him, their training should start at the level of secondary education. The idea for this is the deputy chairman of the Committee on Energy in the National Assembly Valentin Nikolov. Bulgaria will face a shortage of nuclear specialists as early as 2025. According to data from Kozloduy NPP, if the tendency to reduce the number of students in technical specialties serving nuclear energy is maintained, by 2025. Bulgaria will experience a shortage of personnel to manage now working nuclear units. At present, all students who are trained in specialties related to nuclear power are 80 people. At the same time only the operation of one block requires 380 specialists. One of the big problems for the teachers is that according to the currently established system, they receive a payment according to the number of students. They can only count on a full salary if they have 12 students. In six students, the salary is halved and the drop continues with the dropping of each student. Another problem is related to the autonomy of universities, who can themselves decide on the dropping of majors. Therefore, from Bulatom “New Builds” will insist nuclear energy to be legally declared a “protected” specialty.