Order for approval of site 2

On February 21, 2020, the Chairman of the NRA presented "Kozloduy NPP - New Build" EAD with an administrative act - Order No. AA-04-30 approving site 2 for the deployment of a nuclear facility - a nuclear power plant.

In accordance with national legislation and according to the IAEA guidance documents, the site selection process went through several phases, with numerous analyses and studies of proposed sites being carried out, detailed characterization and classification of these sites being carried out, and the most suitable site being determined and the design foundations defined.

The object of analysis to determine a preferred site for the location of a new nuclear facility were 4 potential sites as follows:

• Site 1 – The site is located northeast of blocks 1 and 2. The area of the terrain is about 55 hectares;
• Site 2 – The site is located east of Units 1 and 2 of Kozloduy NPP, in the direction of the village of Harlets. The area of the terrain is about 55 hectares;
• Site 3 – The site is located north of Units 5 and 6 of the Kozloduy NPP, near the bypass road of the existing plant. The area of the terrain is about 53 hectares;
• Site 4 – The site is located west of Units 3 and 4 of Kozloduy NPP and the Smelting Plant, south of the cold and hot channels. The available area is about 21 hectares, within the boundaries of the expropriated land of the NPP.

Each of the subprojects /Technical and economic analysis of the need to build a new nuclear power plant at the Kozloduy NPP site, Investigation and determination of the location of a preferred site for the construction of a new nuclear power plant at the Kozloduy NPP site, Conducting an EIA of an investment proposal for the construction of a new nuclear power plant at the Kozloduy NPP site/, carried out in the preparatory stage of the project for the construction of a new nuclear power plant at the Kozloduy NPP site, evaluates and ranks the proposed sites described above according to a different set of criteria defined in the national and international regulatory documents in the relevant area, as well as those through which the characteristics of the respective sites, the reuse of the existing infrastructure, the interaction with existing facilities and the degree of difficulty in implementing the projects at the various sites can be assessed.

Based on the results obtained, the most suitable site for the location of a nuclear facility - a nuclear power plant, Site 2, was selected and proposed for approval by the Chairman of the NRA.

Undoubted advantages of the site

• Good conditions for connection to the electricity grid. When constructing one or two units with a single nominal capacity of 1200 MW, the Kozloduy NPP site will not need to install additional power transmission capacity;
• The most current site research;
• A large number of drillings of varying depths have been carried out, with over 400 samples.
• All considered sites at Kozloduy NPP have been studied based on the most conservative conditions, given the events in Fukushima, according to the latest requirements of the NRA and IAEA. Site 2 has the most favorable conditions:
• higher elevation /+35 meters/ – natural protection from flooding;
• better conditions for foundation of structures;
• lowest potential for liquefaction of water-saturated sands under seismic impacts;
• no active faults – the most seismically calm site in Bulgaria;
• least excavation work compared to another site;
• there is no possibility of "slope instability";
• There are no prerequisites for the formation of avalanches, mudflows and other dangerous hydrological, meteorological, etc. phenomena;
• Unfounded claims of increased impact on the radiation background from units 5 and 6 and new units;
• Presence of a significant safety margin due to the presence of a huge volume of final sink (cooling water) - over 7 km of canal length;
• Transport for Radioactive Waste (RW) management from the new nuclear power plant will be carried out less than 1 km away;
• Availability of a single RAW disposal facility near the site;
• A system for environmental (radiation and non-radiation) monitoring has been built in the 30 and 100 km zone around Kozloduy NPP;
• Systems have been built for physical protection, fire safety, medical stations and emergency planning (emergency management centers);
• Training center with a functioning full-scale simulator and highly qualified personnel;
• Site 2 is not located in a Nature Park or other protected area and an assessment of the specific impact of the implementation of the investment proposal on biodiversity and protected habitats has been carried out;
• A transboundary impact assessment has been carried out, which also includes Austria, with an expert opinion prepared, which confirms the adequacy of the assessment carried out;
• The EIA procedure in Kozloduy has been declared a good practice by the UN Commission;

The administrative act approving the preferred site concludes the preparatory stage of the project for the construction of new capacities at Kozloduy NPP and takes it out of the hypotheses of probability, turning it into a proven opportunity for the continuation of the economic life of Kozloduy NPP EAD with one or two new power units with the technology alternatives considered in the project.