IAEA mission held at Kozloduy NPP

An OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was held at the Kozloduy NPP from November 18 to December 5, 2024. As part of the inspection, an independent review of the level of safety in the operation of the nuclear units was carried out based on IAEA standards.

The Agency team included 13 experts from 10 countries – Sweden, France, Great Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, the USA, Finland and Canada, who inspected 10 areas: “Leadership and management for safety”, “Training and qualification”, “Operation”, “Repair”, “Engineering support”, “Feedback from operational experience”, “Radiation protection”, “Chemistry”, “Emergency planning and preparedness” and “Accident management”. In each of them, partners from different divisions of Kozloduy NPP worked together with the IAEA experts. During the mission, the inspectors carried out a number of visits to objects and facilities at the site – workshops, laboratories, shops, safety systems, control and machine rooms of units 5 and 6, the full-scale simulator for VVER-1000 reactor units in the Training Center, the two accident management centers – at the site and in the city of Kozloduy. Dozens of interviews with employees, observations of work briefings, operational meetings, functional tests, implementation of specific activities, theoretical and practical training, simulator sessions, etc. were conducted.

At the final meeting on December 5, which was attended by IAEA experts, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency Tsanko Bachiiski, the Company’s management and representatives of the plant teams in the areas of the inspection, the preliminary report of the mission was presented. The document, the final version of which is to be submitted to the Bulgarian government within three months, includes the main observations and conclusions of the IAEA team – the established good practices and strengths in the work of Kozloduy NPP, as well as proposals and recommendations for improving the activities to maintain the achieved high level of safety.

In his statement, the Executive Director of Kozloduy NPP, Ivan Andreev, stated that the goal of the Bulgarian partners was to clearly demonstrate that safety is a top priority for every worker at the plant. He assured the inspectors that the conclusions summarized in the official report of the OSART mission will contribute to the further improvement of all aspects of the Kozloduy NPP’s operations and to maintaining the safe and efficient operation of Units 5 and 6. Ivan Andreev thanked the participants in the preparation and conduct of the inspection and emphasized that the good results are a consequence of the joint efforts of the Company’s team, made up of people with proven expertise and professional dedication.

Tsanko Bachiiski, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, congratulated the inspection teams for the work well done during the mission. In his speech, he highlighted the importance of the topic of leadership in ensuring safety and stated that in its pursuit of new achievements, Kozloduy NPP can count on the support of the NRA.

IAEA Team Leader John Duguid summarized the work of the mission, noting the extremely good preparation of the plant and the full cooperation provided to the inspectors. He emphasized that a number of remarkable characteristics of Kozloduy NPP were identified: excellent condition of structures, systems and components, impressive level of operational order and strong readiness for action.

The OSART program, established by the IAEA in 1982, takes into account various dimensions of nuclear facility safety, including maintaining leadership and management with a focus on safety as a top priority, ensuring that activities are carried out by competent and motivated personnel, maintaining a high level of emergency preparedness, providing the necessary resources to ensure the reliable, stable and efficient operation of nuclear power units, and continuously improving the safety culture.

The team's findings, formulated on the basis of IAEA safety standards, outline areas where improvements can be made by applying international operating experience. At the same time, examples from the work of the inspected nuclear power plant that may be useful to other companies in the nuclear industry are highlighted and are accordingly published in the database of good practices established during OSART missions.