Bulgaria's first commercial
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
began operation in 1974.
The
Kozloduy NPP operates two
pressurized water reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) i ...
s with a total output of 1906 MW. This makes
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
the 21st-largest user of nuclear power in the world. Construction of the
Belene Nuclear Power Plant was officially terminated in March 2012, and a thermal powerplant was supposed to be built on the site. Efforts in May 2018 to restart the Belene project were unsuccessful. , Bulgaria plans to construct new reactors at the existing Kozloduy site.
Radioactive waste
Bulgaria has a state agency in charge of
radioactive waste disposal Radioactive waste disposal may refer to:
*High-level radioactive waste management
* Low-level waste disposal
* Ocean disposal of radioactive waste
** Ocean floor disposal
* Deep borehole disposal
*Deep geological repository
A deep geological repo ...
. Under a 2002 agreement, Bulgaria pays Russia $620 thousand/ton to
reprocess spent fuel. The country also spent to construct a new storage facility and had plans to build another facility by 2015
[“Nuclear Power in Bulgaria.” '']World Nuclear Association
World Nuclear Association is the international organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the companies that comprise the global nuclear industry. Its members come from all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining, u ...
'' February 2008. < http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf87.html> but it didn't happen as predicted.
Reactors
See also
*
Energy in Bulgaria
About 200 TWh of energy in Bulgaria is consumed each year which is about 28 MWh per person, somewhat over the world average of 20 MWh. The largest sources are coal and oil, followed by nuclear.
Bulgaria does not produce much coal, oil and gas. ...
*
Politics of Bulgaria
The politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.Bulgaria Library of Congress Country Study, ''Government ...
References
External links
Uranium Information Center: Nuclear energy in Bulgariaat
Blinken Open Society Archives
Blinken Open Society Archives (abbreviated as Blinken OSA) is an archival repository and laboratory that aims to explore new ways of assessing, contextualizing, presenting, and making use of archival documents both in a professional and a conscio ...
, Budapest
World Nuclear Association Report on Bulgaria's Nuclear Energy History and Present
{{Europe topic, Nuclear energy in