Radio Bulgaria

Bulgaria will need a total of EUR 579 mln. for the decommissioning of the four ceased small nuclear units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. That is what a report of the EU Court of Auditors reads on the activities, taken place so far for the closure of the old Russian units in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia. The document evaluates the European support for these countries’ nuclear sector in the period 1999 – 2010. According to the report all these three countries need additional EUR 2.5 bln. The audit institution gives recommendations, based on the job done till now, for the funds, granted by the EU for the closure of a total of 8 nuclear units in these countries, in order for their more effective and economic usage to be achieved. Furthermore, the document says that the profit from new tranches should be evaluated before their granting.

What are the assessment and recommendations of the EU Court of Auditors on Bulgaria? A shortage of some EUR 579 mln. is expected under the programs for closure of the four small nuclear units at the Kozloduy NPP, as EUR 1.118 bln. is provided. The European auditors resume that the process of securing of the plant’s units is a slow one, programs get more expensive and there is a lack of concrete assessments on the future needs and responsibilities. Half of the money has been already spent in the course of these ten years since the closure of the first two units. A total of EUR 868 mln. are provided for the period till 2013. The political engagement is fulfilled and the reactors are stopped, according to the auditors, but the progress on the early closure of the units is a slow one. One of the problems in the Kozloduy NPP is the delayed construction of the repository for spent fuel. Besides that, its price has gone up by nearly 19 percent on the initial one. The EU Court of Auditors marks that the radioactive waste at the NPP is not fully described, but the information is based on preliminary data. There is also a lack of an overall evaluation of the expenses, necessary for the decommissioning of the four old units.

What is the prehistory of the Kozloduy NPP?
The Kozloduy NPP is the only one in this country and it used to consist of 6 units, constructed under a Russian project with a total power of 3,760 MW. Bulgaria had to shut down the first 4 units due to its EU accession. Those were stopped respectively in 2002 and 2006. A part of the expenses for their decommissioning was funded by the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund, managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Its funding is provided by the EU and several European governments and it has to compensate Bulgaria for lost profits due to the early closure of the four units. The goal is the negative consequences for this country’s energy sector to be reduced and the share of “green energy” to be increased at the same time. The first tranche of EUR 550 mln. was until 2009, while the second, to the tune of EUR 300 mln. is provided till the end of 2013.

However, after 2013 Bulgaria will have to fund on its own all activities on the decommissioning of the four small units. Due to the lack of money this country asked Brussels for another EUR 450 mln. for the ongoing work on the stopping and securing of the nuclear units. The EC promised EUR 185 mln. end-2011 for the 2014 – 2020 period, which is only half of the compensations demanded. Nuclear experts alarm that the money accumulated is not enough for the decommissioning of the four units. In their words the assessments were based on an international audit and not on concrete data for Bulgaria and hence the difference. 

English version: Zhivko Stanchev