July 2000
Za
Zemiata
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to NUKEBOOK Contents:
MANAGEMENT
OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL OF KOZLODUY NPP
spent
fuel storage facilities in Kozloduy
transportation
and reprocessing of Bulgarian spent nuclear fuel
legislation
and responsible authorities in Bulgaria
the
funds
consequences
on human health
environmental
impact assessment
spent
fuel storage facilities in Kozloduy NPP
Spent
fuel taken out from the units 1-4 of Kozloduy NPP is stored in pools next
to the reactors, and afterwards is transferred to the interim wet storage
facility at the site of the plant. The pools of these first four units
have already reached their capacity. An illegal storage method is
being used at these pools. A “second floor storage” method is used in which
cassettes of spent fuel are arranged on the top of the ones that had already
filled the pool. This method is forbidden by international institutions
(IAEA), because it hinders the ability to control the condition of the
cassettes. Furthermore, it increases the water temperature
in the pools, which may accelerate corrosive cracking and subsequent radioactive
leakage.
Because
the interim wet storage facility is not constructed to accommodate spent
fuel from 1000 MW units, spent fuel from units 5 and 6 is stored only in
the pools next to their reactors.
In
October 1997, the Committee on the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes
(CUAEPP) suspended from operation the wet interim storage facility because
it did not correspond to the safety requirements and the risk of an accident
was unacceptably high.
At
present, this interim storage facility is without a license, as the program
for its seismic consolidation has not been finished yet. Measures
for consolidating and increasing the volume of the storage facility so
that it can accommodate spent fuel out of units 5 and 6 will take at least
2-3 more years.
A “National
Strategy for Safe Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste” was approved
by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers on 9 November 1999. One of its main
objectives is “not to allow a forced closure of reactors 1-4 out of lack
of a free space for spent fuel storage”. In order to meet this objective,
the following measures are envisioned:
Short-term
measures (1999 – 2001):
-
Seismic
consolidation of the existing wet interim storage facility; reconstruction
of the facility so it can accommodate spent fuel from units 5 and 6 (VVER
1000) and acquisition of a license;
-
Increasing
the volume of the storage pools close to the reactors 3 and 4 for
storage of VVER 440 fuel;
-
Construction
of a new dry cask storage facility at the site of the plant.
Middle-term
measures (2001 – 2003):
-
Consolidating
and increasing the volume of the existing wet storage facility with two
new pools and acquiring of license.
Long-term
measures:
-
Returning
of the spent fuel for reprocessing in Russia.
The
estimated costs of the transportation of spent fuel from Kozloduy NPP,
according to the Strategy, are 68 million USD per year. However, the source
of this money is not specified.
Transportation
and reprocessing of Bulgarian spent nuclear fuel
Up
to 1989 Bulgaria used to send the spent nuclear fuel from Kozloduy NPP
to the Mayak Russian reprocessing facility in South Ural. Bulgaria
didn’t pay Russia for the fresh fuel necessary for the operating of Kozloduy
nor did Bulgaria pay for the transportation and the reprocessing of the
spent fuel. From 1989 up to 1998 shipments of spent fuel have not
been sent to Russia. Following an agreement signed in 1998 among
the governments of Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, Kozloduy NPP
sent a shipment of 240 spent fuel cassettes from units 1 – 4, for reprocessing
at Mayak and had to pay Russia approximately 18,7 million USD.
It
is expected that after the plutonium has been extracted the high reprocessing
radioactive waste will be send back to the territory of Bulgaria.
Until now an appropriate and geologically suitable site for long-term storage
of high – level radioactive waste has not been found on the territory of
Bulgaria.
Moldova
was the only signatory which has not ratified this agreement. As
a result its Parliament has to vote each time Kozloduy NPP wants to transport
spent fuel through its territory. In 1999 the Parliament of Moldova
refused to vote in favor of the fulfillment of the agreement and in this
way the main route for transportation of spent fuel was cut off.
Another
“alternative” route was being negotiated with Romania. If such route
was accepted, the shipments of spent nuclear fuel from Kozloduy NPP would
be transferred at the Bulgarian – Romanian Danube river’s border complex
Rousse – Giurgiu. Afterwards they would pass through the territory
of Romania using the country’s railway system on the way to Ukraine, thus
evading the territory of Moldova. This “alternative” route has never
been used and tested. Romanian railways were designed to serve the population
and at present are in a very bad state. Òrains carrying spent nuclear
fuel from Kozloduy would pass along these lines through heavily populated
areas, including Romania’s capital, Bucharest. After assessing the
safety of spent fuel casks the Romanian nuclear regulative authority CNCAN
concluded that safety cannot be assured in case of accidents on the territory
of Romania.
Thus
the negotiations between Bulgaria and Romania on the transport of spent
fuel by train were temporarily closed.
LEGISLATION
AND RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES IN BULGARIA
The
present Act on the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes was
adopted by the Parliament in 1995. Its article 3 states: "Atomic
Energy shall be used in accordance with the aims and the principles of
nuclear and radiation safety and protection of the life and health of people
and the environment shall have priority before economic and other social
needs". A special committee at the Council of Ministers, the
Committee for the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes (CUAEPP),
is the body which implements the state policy in this area. The CUAEPP
is charged with:
-
planning
and development of the safe use of atomic energy;
-
research
in the application of atomic energy;
-
education,
training and qualification of personnel involved with the use of atomic
energy;
-
nuclear
legislation;
-
international
aspects of use of atomic energy;
-
emergency
planning and preparedness in the case of nuclear incident.
In
parallel with the control, made by CUAEPP, there are some other institutions
which have the obligations to oversee matters relating to nuclear.
These are the Ministry of the Environment (radiation monitoring), the Ministry
of Agriculture and Food Industry (radiation control), the Ministry of Internal
Affairs (control of the physical protection of nuclear material and ionizing
radiation sources) and the Committee of Standardization and Metrology (control
of measuring equipment).
The
present CUAEPP management should regain its autonomous status from other
governmental institutions such as the State Agency for Energy and Energy
Resources, so that it will be able to overcome bureaucratic obstacles in
order to fulfill its functions.
According
to the “National Strategy for Safe Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive
Waste”, approved by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers in the end of 1999,
a new Act on the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes is being prepared
and should be ready not later than 2001. This act envisions a new
distribution of the roles and responsibilities of the institutions.
In
the same Strategy the Council of Ministers required the creation of an
independent “State-owned Enterprise for the Safe Management of Radioactive
Waste” by the end of the year 2000. Such an autonomous and independent
institution is of a vital importance
but
in order to implement an effective control its governing body should not
be bind to the existing state structures, such as NEK and the State Agency
of Energy and Energy Resources.
the
funds
According
to the existing Act for the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes
(AUAEPP) two funds were created in 1992: The Fund for Safe Disposal of
Radioactive Waste and the Fund for Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities.
While the law required the formal establishment of these funds, no legal
mechanism was created to ensure their functioning. From January 1999
NEK began collecting 8% from the price of the electricity generated by
Kozloduy NPP for the Decommissioning Fund and an additional 3% for the
Waste Disposal Fund. By May 2000 NEK had gathered 130 million BG
Leva (equal to 66,5 million EURO) from electricity consumers for the two
funds, but still has not deposited them. At present there is no formal
accounting of the money collected and the funds are empty.
consequences
on human health
According
to recent studies conducted by the Oncologic dispensary (Vratza) and information,
provided in the National action plan ”Environment – Health” in the region
of northwestern Bulgaria, where Kozloduy NPP is situated, the frequency
of cancer diseases, genetic disorders and inherited defects is continually
rising.
The
cancer disease has a latent period of 10 to 30 years after exposure to
radiation, during which no disease symptoms are evident.
Bulgaria
still has not developed an efficient system for health monitoring of former
workers in the sphere of ionising radiation. According to the International
Atomic Energy Agency and the contemporary concepts for the biological influence
of ionising radiation, these people should undergo medical check ups until
the end of their lives. At present only partial check ups are carried
out for former workers of Kozloduy NPP, living in the town of Kozloduy
and the surrounding villages.
Proper
comparative epidemologic researches on the frequency and the character
of the population’s diseases, as a result of the Kozloduy NPP exploitation,
have not been conducted. Health assessment of the Kozloduy NPP’s staff
and the population, living in the region, as well as biomonitoring of the
risk groups population, have been envisaged in the National action plan
”Environment – Health”, but until now none of them was conducted.
Thus
the governmental institutions violates the Constitution of Bulgaria, the
United Nations’ Convention for protection of the Children’s Rights and
the European Convention of Human Rights.
environmental
impact assessment (EIA)
According
to the Bulgarian legislation Kozloduy NPP is obliged to have an environmental
impact assessment in order to have a legal permission to operate.
Until now such environmental impact assessment of the whole site of the
power plant has not been completed. Neither had EIA been completed
for the “National Strategy for Safe Management of Spent Fuel and
Radioactive Waste”, spent fuel shipments and the reactor modernization
projects carried out. Thus, the Bulgarian public was kept out of
the decision making process.
At
present a very controversial EIA of Kozloduy NPP is under preparation.
Some of the experts working on the EIA do have labour relations with the
NPP, hence their independence is doubtful. |
