The Project

Everything for New Build Project

Project Status

Site Selection

a- -SITE SELECTION SURVEYS

A mandatory part of the feasibility studies are the engineering, geological and meteorological researches for selecting a suitable site for the installation of the nuclear equipment.

The main activities for carrying out all necessary analyses and researches are assigned to the team experts from Risk engineering and were done in the period 2012-2014.

The main objective of the selection and assessment of the site for instalation a new nuclear power plant in terms of nuclear safety is the protection of the population and the environment from radiological impacts in all operating conditions, as well as in the case of emergency regimes.

In providing the assessment of the proposed sites for the new nuclear power plant, the following key aspects have been taken into account:

– The influence of external events of natural and technogenic nature on the safety of the facility, which can occur in the region of the site.

– The characteristics of the site and the surrounding region which have an impact on the migration and accumulation of radioactive substances that would have been obtained during the operation of the new power;

– Demographic characteristics (density and distribution) of the population in the region.

The analysis and research to determine the location of the new nuclear power plant shall cover the territory of four potential sites adjacent to the existing nuclear plant (Kozloduy NPP units 5 and 6).

As a result of the studies and analyses carried out, all aspects concerning the safety of the nuclear equipment have been considered as the assessment was carried out in accordance with the current requirements of national and international legal documents, and the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency. All local characteristics of the sites that may affect the safety of the nuclear installation have been recognized as well as the characteristics of the natural environment in the region which may be influenced by potential radiation effects in all operational conditions and emergency ones. The proposed sites for the deployment of the new nuclear power plant are analysed in terms of frequency and severity of external phenomena and factors of natural origin, in terms of sources of technogenic and geotechnical hazards, as well as combinations thereof, may affect the safety of the equipment.

In conclusion, it can be summarized that the engineering team has assessed the specifics of each of the sites, focusing on all the characteristics that may be important for the safety of external natural phenomena and technogenic events, taking into account all additional engineering measures necessary to prepare the site to ‘accept’ the nuclear equipment. As the researched sites are located close to the site of the operative nuclear plant /’Kozloduy’ NPP/ an assessment of the influence of the existing plant on the safety of the offered sites is made. The most important conclusions of this study are:

-For the construction of a new nuclear unit/units regarding the existing technical water supply, there is no need to build new facilities.

-If one or two units with a single power of 1200 MW are installed, the Kozloduy NPP site will not need to install additional transmission capacity grid to suppy the electrical energy system.

Although part of the infrastructure will need renewal in time, its reuse has a significant impact on the timetable and costs associated with the construction of the new nuclear unit/units, having in mind that the existing nuclear plant will finance these costs. Last but not least, a system of technical heat supply of resources from the existing 5 and 6 units of Kozloduy NPP will be carried out on an existing connection. All this makes the site of Kozloduy NPP more economically advantageous in choosing a site for a new nuclear power plant.

Independent verification of the results and evaluations obtained in researching and determining the location of new nuclear power capacity on the site of Kozloduy NPP was done.

  • On the recommendation of the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency was carried out an independent verification of the results obtained in all researches made in the stage of feasibility study by a team of specialists from Bulgarian Academy of Science. The purpose of the verification was to ensure that a proper process (correct methodology) was used to assess the technical risks, that the analysis examined and assessed all the uncertainties due to the lack of recorded data and that the documentation is complete and traceable. As a result of the verification 12 reports were prepared. The subject of the independent verification were the assessment related to the selection of the site: Seismics; Hydrology, Meteorology, Engineering, Geology.

The final results confirm/Verify the adequacy of the methodology used and the credibility of the received conclusions and information.