(358.3548) WISE Amsterdam -They didn't examine the newer VVER-1000 units 5 and 6, but these units may not be able to continue operation either, since both Bulgarian and Soviet personnel are leaving because the government is not paying them in hard currency. At unit-5 the number of shifts have been cut down from five to four. With a total of 3,538 MW net capacity at it's six units, Kozloduy provided more than a third of Bulgaria's power in 1990, according to IAEA figures.
On 18 July the European Community (EC) announced a program to help Bulgaria improve the near-term safety of the Kozloduy reactors. The US$13 million emergency aid will include quick backfits and repairs proposed recently by the IAEA, including actions "of an industrial character": a six-month improvement plan elaborated by the Bulgarians with the WANO (World Association of Nuclear Operators); and "active twinning" between Kozloduy and nuclear power plants in the EC. (Electricité de France's Bugey plant has already begun such a program). The industrial actions could include anything from fixing leaking pipes and broken elevators to "cutting the grass so the dust doesn't spread", someone familiar with the plan said.
Earlier there had been a discussion between Germany and mainly France about shutting down the plants. Germany's Environmental Minister, Klaus Töpfer, ordered the immediate and indefinite closure of the plants. Other countries were saying Töpfer was "overreacting", because of the strong opposition against nuclear power in his country and because of the fact that he had shut down the Greifswald reactors for safety reasons and that because the Kozloduy plants were much more dangerous, he had no other alternative.
A Bulgarian official said on 9 July that the two oldest reactors at Kozloduy would be closed within four to five weeks. It is still unclear if Bulgaria will shut down the two units permanently and much will depend on what help the international community can provide. The German firm RWE is already supplying about 500 MW to Romania "and we will examine whether Germany can provide power to Bulgaria via existing direct-current couplers and replace the power, say, with power from France," one European official said.
Sources:
- Nucleonics Week (US), 4 & 11 July, 1 Aug. 1991
- The Times (UK), 10 July
- Taz (FRG), 19 July 1991
Contact: Danko Ivano, Ecoglasnost, Boris I Street 98 B, BG-1126 Sofia, Bulgaria.
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