Bulgarian Nuclear Power Sites See Encouraging Results from Stress Tests

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Europe (Galway, Ireland)--Stress tests at Kozloduy, Bulgaria's only operational nuclear power plant indicate that the plant would withstand a natural disaster without a problem. The results show that the plant's safety systems (both active and passive) could endure even stronger quakes than the one that occurred in Japan. The same applies to hazards such as floods.

Kozloduy's units 3 and 4, which are being decommissioned, and operating units 5 and 6 underwent tests from August to October this year. The test results showed that the plant has 55% to 80% more seismic resistance than required. The stress tests also simulated scenarios of extreme drought, heat, temperature drops, ice and floods. The results showed that even if the level of the Danube River rises and Iron Gate dams 1 and 2 break, Bulgaria's nuclear plant would not be flooded.

According to Plamen Vassilev, director of security at Kozloduy, said that "even climate change due to global warming would not affect the facility." He added that the electricity supply to and from the power plant is secured by three power lines and by 12 diesel generators, and concluded that the several independent cooling systems of the nuclear plant should be enough to prevent events similar to those in Japan. "Even in case of a worst possible scenario, all facilities in the Bulgarian nuke will be restored and functioning within four hours," Vassilev said.

Stress tests also were conducted on the Belene nuclear power plant project site, although they were not mandatory. The fate of the project for the second Bulgarian nuclear power plant remains unclear, as Bulgaria and Russia's AtomStroyExport (Moscow) are stilling haggling over the price and other issues. For additional information, see October 18, 2011, article - Bulgaria Files Counter Claim Against AtomStroyExport Over Belene Nuclear Power Plant.

Safety concerns, along with worries that the price for the NPP is too high, have been among the key arguments used by opponents of the joint Russian-Bulgarian Belene project. However, the stress tests for Belene have shown that the Belene project has a complete level of protection from all natural disasters considered.

The security tests of nuclear units across Europe were initiated after the nuclear crisis in Japan's Fukishima power plant in March this year. All European Union member states are to submit the results of their nuclear stress tests to the European Commission for further assessment by December 31, 2011.

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