/ world at this time information/ Interview of Nikolay Nikolaev with Alexander Nikolov, former govt director of Kozloduy NPP, nuclear vitality professional
Mr. Nikolov, you’re the chairman of the “Power Future for Bulgaria” affiliation, which incorporates main vitality consultants in Bulgaria. Briefly inform concerning the work of the group. What objectives do you need to obtain?
Affiliation “Power Future for Bulgaria” was registered in the summertime of this yr as a authorized entity with a non-profit objective for public profit. The duty now we have set ourselves is to popularize the issues and prospects dealing with the Bulgarian vitality sector. Our foremost aim is to inform what the truths are within the Bulgarian vitality business at this time. Particularly within the area of nuclear vitality, our job is to do all the pieces doable to start out the development of a brand new nuclear energy plant in Bulgaria utilizing the gear already delivered to Belene. We purposefully would not have a precise place on which web site to construct – the one in Kozloduy or the one in Belene, as each choices are doable. Every web site has its personal benefits and, if not disadvantages, issues that hinder the fast development of latest nuclear energy.
The new subject at this time is exactly the way forward for the Belene NPP. What do you suppose needs to be performed with the 2 reactors which have been paid for and are within the means of being delivered?
Our job as an affiliation is to do all the pieces doable by authorized means to persuade the Bulgarian authorities and the Ministry of Power to start out constructing a brand new nuclear energy plant. However what’s particular about us? We consider that the development of latest energy in Bulgaria needs to be solely state property.
GERB proposes that this be performed on the premise of personal investments…
We’ve already seen what occurred to TPP “Maritsa-East 1” and TPP “Maritsa-East 3”. We noticed what occurred to the facility distribution firms. The most effective employer in vitality, in my view, is the state. It is rather troublesome for anybody to persuade us {that a} non-public nuclear plant will probably be accountable sufficient for the mission earlier than it.
It’s commented in society that some huge cash has already been given for the “Belene” NPP and there may be nowhere to allocate extra billions.
Some huge cash has really been paid from the funds. In response to the most recent data, after the fee in December 2016, we have already got two reactors, eight steam mills, two quantity compensators, sixteen hydroaccumulators, two units of foremost circulation pipelines and different further gear – with a value of about 650 million euros (1.3 billion . leva). Final yr, 600 million euros had been paid, however along with them, one other 10% of its worth was paid to start out the manufacturing. A big a part of the gear is already in Belene, and one other half is on its approach to Bulgaria and will probably be unloaded on the “Belene” web site as quickly as doable.
Is there a chance that this gear, with poor storage and delay, will, figuratively talking, rust and grow to be unusable?
The reactors won’t rust as a result of even when they don’t seem to be saved in line with the rules, they don’t seem to be fabricated from rebar metal … Nevertheless, it’s about cash. In response to the most recent information, about 3.5 billion Bulgarian levs had been spent on the Belene web site. These funds are reported as liabilities, however a few of them can simply be changed into property. This half is value BGN 1.3 billion – the gear that may simply be used. This gear can be utilized to construct nuclear energy of the kind of reactor VVER-1000, mannequin B-466B. I can say that the primary loop gear that has already been delivered is of outstanding high quality – maybe probably the greatest reactor installations out there on the earth at this time. You most likely know that Russian blocks are being constructed virtually in every single place on the earth. The opposite sort that’s being efficiently constructed proper now’s the kind of reactors designed by Westinghouse and manufactured in Korea. The subsequent plant launched on the earth will most likely be of this sort. And that is the Baraka NPP within the United Arab Emirates. Russian reactors have been in operation in Bulgaria since 1974.
Kozloduy NPP has over 1,000 consultants, in the most effective sense of the phrase. Sadly, every kind of recognized and unknown consultants have appeared in our nation, who don’t know about nuclear vitality, however outline themselves as vitality consultants, and within the nuclear sphere, which is, to place it mildly, insulting to the actual specialists. Our place as an affiliation is {that a} fee of actual consultants needs to be urgently created to delve into the problem of latest nuclear energy and suggest to the federal government the place a nuclear energy plant could be constructed quicker – in Kozloduy or in Belene. Most certainly this will probably be in Belene, however there are additionally a number of particular disadvantages that can not be ignored. There aren’t any dependable connections to the nation’s vitality system in Belene. That’s, most probably three connections with three separate factors to Bulgaria’s vitality system with a complete size of about 500 kilometers have to be constructed. So many kilometers of transmission traces are very troublesome to construct and price some huge cash. One other shortcoming is that there isn’t a full venture for the Belene NPP at this time. Everybody says there is a venture for Belene, and that is not true!
No venture for Belene NPP?
Sure, there was a venture for the “Belene” NPP. On 21.12.2006, the Nuclear Regulatory Company permitted the location. In 2008, the Ministry of Regional Growth and Public Works gave the “inexperienced gentle” to the venture. However all that’s now historical past.
So the process has to start out once more?
Every part needs to be designed once more. After all, a lot of the previous design will probably be tailored to the brand new one. On this case, this venture could be tailored for each Belene and Kozloduy. It’s troublesome for me to say for positive which venture could be carried out quicker, however as I already mentioned, Belene slightly has a bonus on this regard. Nevertheless, this plant have to be related to the facility system and this could sluggish it down. In Kozloduy, these connections had been constructed and have a capability of 6,000 megawatts of energy. Not 2000, however 6000 megawatts, which signifies that there isn’t a further want for a single new transmission line.
From what you have been saying to date, I take it you help the necessity to construct new capability?
Bulgaria wants new capacities proper now! You might be most likely conscious of the outcomes of the Paris Convention on local weather change in December 2015. It ended with a choice to cut back dangerous emissions launched into the setting. Bulgaria signed the Paris Local weather Settlement, and a yr later a regulation was handed within the Nationwide Meeting, that’s, we joined the selections of the Paris Convention. The European Council commissioned the Local weather Institute, based mostly in Berlin, to advise on how greatest to implement the Paris choices. In February of this yr, the report of the institute was revealed, by which it’s mentioned that the Bulgarian tecs are one of many greatest polluters of the setting amongst all of the tecs in Europe. Our coal has the bottom calorific worth and the very best ash content material of any coal mined in Europe. The report of the Berlin Institute foresees a schedule for a phased discount of the facility of coal crops with three foremost benchmarks – 2020, 2025 and 2030. After 2030, I quote: “Over 90% of European coal crops have to be decommissioned, and for Bulgaria – 100%”. On April 28 of this yr, a particular committee with representatives of the member states with 20 votes “for” towards 8 “towards” (Bulgaria was additionally towards) supported this report and determined to section out all thermal energy crops in Bulgaria by 2030. 100% of the runs. Which means that if we do not begin constructing a nuclear energy plant tomorrow, there may be nothing to interchange baseload capability with. Many individuals in Bulgaria, recognized and unknown consultants, consider that new nuclear energy just isn’t wanted. I might be a part of them, however allow them to say what are we going to do after they cease working? What’s going to we substitute them with?
Cannot the issue be solved with renewable vitality sources?
There’s not sufficient water in Bulgaria. There’s not sufficient solar in Bulgaria. There’s not sufficient wind in Bulgaria. Our nation has 3,000 megawatts of put in hydroelectric energy crops – state and personal. The 2016 put in capability utilization price of all of them is 13%. Which means that the entire 3,000 megawatts of capability labored for about 400 megawatts per yr. There’s water when it rains, and Bulgaria doesn’t obtain the required quantity of precipitation. Maybe even within the coming years, the quantity of precipitation will lower, that’s, we can’t depend on hydroelectric crops. The thermal energy crops that will probably be closed are on the order of two,500 megawatts, even barely extra. What’s going to we do then? Will we import electrical energy? From the place? From the Turkish nuclear energy plant? In Turkey, there may be already speak of a venture for a 3rd nuclear energy plant. Along with actively engaged on the development of the Akkuyu NPP, the Turks have a contract for an additional nuclear energy plant on the coast of the Black Sea and are speaking exhausting a few new energy plant to be situated north of Istanbul, that’s, close to Bulgaria. Will we purchase electrical energy from the Turkish nuclear energy plant? At what value? No drawback. We will additionally purchase electrical energy from France, however there are so-called “cross border” charges and after crossing every border now we have to depart more money.
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