Realization of the National Disposal Facility for Radioactive Waste in Bulgaria - 16611

Conference · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016

OSTI ID:22838356

Biurrun, Enrique ^[1]; Stefanova, Ira ^[2]; Gonzalez Herranz, Emiliano ^[3]

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1. DBE Technology GmbH (Germany)
2. State Enterprise Radioactive Waste SE - SERAW (Bulgaria)
3. Westinghouse Electric Spain SAR (Spain)

Radioactive waste is generated in the Republic of Bulgaria from the operation and decommissioning of the country's nuclear power plants and from other sources in research, medical applications, and the industry. The need for building a National Disposal Facility (NDF) is recognized by the Bulgarian government and described and justified in its Environment Impact Assessment Decision. The Bulgarian State Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management (SERAW) is endeavoring to build a near-surface repository for short-lived low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (SL-LILW) to discharge its statutory responsibilities in waste management is. The European Union (EU) finances the establishment of the NDF through the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF). After an international tendering procedure, SERAW placed a contract for the development of the design of the NDF to the Consortium of Westinghouse Electric Spain S.A.R and DBE Technology GmbH of Germany, with ENRESA, the Spanish National Waste Management Agency providing technical review and support. Two Bulgarian companies participate also in the project as subcontractors - EQE Bulgaria and to a lesser extent KK-Project. The repository project official name is 'Technical Design and ISAR Preparation for the National Disposal Facility at Bulgaria', usually abbreviated as 'R-Project 5'. After obtaining SERAW's approval for the preferred repository conceptual design variant, the R Project 5 focused on developing the Technical Design on the one hand, and on preparing the Intermediate Safety Analysis Report (ISAR) to demonstrate the safety and suitability of the proposed NDF design on the other. These documents were handed over to the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (BNRA) as well as to the different authorities involved in the comprehensive licensing process required for nuclear facilities in the country. The corresponding permits have mostly been received or are expected for early 2016. In the last quarter of 2015 the procurement procedure for repository construction as turn-key project was started with the pre-qualification of possible constructors for the Phase I repository realization on a lump sum contract basis. Repository construction is now expected to start in 2016, with the start of waste disposal now scheduled for around 2020. With the realization of the Bulgarian National Disposal Facility an important milestone for waste disposal in the European Union is about to be achieved. This paper is a sequel of previously presented papers on the NDF construction, now including details of the complex licensing process that this disposal facility underwent, now in its final stages. (authors)

• Research Organization: WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22838356
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--19-WM-16611
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
BULGARIA
DECOMMISSIONING
ENVIRONMENT
GROUND DISPOSAL
INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
NUCLEAR INDUSTRY
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
SAFETY ANALYSIS