 has issued a permit to Kozloduy NPP for a phased transition to a new type of RWFA nuclear fuel for Unit 5, manufactured by Westinghouse 22 04 2024.jpeg)
The Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) has issued a permit to Kozloduy NPP for a phased transition to a new type of RWFA nuclear fuel for Unit 5, manufactured by Westinghouse. The process of switching to the new type of fuel will last four years.
In connection with the current and subsequent regulatory control carried out by the NRA, the issued permit contains several conditions related to the transition to the new type of nuclear fuel. These include requirements both for making changes to the existing instructions and documents defining the activities with the new fuel and for periodically providing additional information on the operation of the fuel performing analyses and taking additional measures in case the need arises.
The main part of the licensing process for the new nuclear fuel is related to the review and evaluation of the technical documents attached to the application for the issuance of a permit, to demonstrate the safety in operation of the new type of fuel. Considerable human resources were involved in the review of the technical documentation both from the NRA and external Bulgarian and foreign technical support organizations. This ensures the application of a harmonized approach and best European practices in licensing a new type of nuclear fuel.
During the licensing process, compliance with the information presented in over 75 fuel design reports and amended operational documents with applicable safety requirements and standards was assessed. As a result of the review of the documents, the NRA formulates and sends to the applicant questions, notes and requests for the presentation of additional information necessary to demonstrate the fulfilment of safety requirements. In response, new revisions to over 40 documents, as well as new reports related to the RWFA Fuel Safety Project and Assessment, were submitted for review.
In addition, several meetings were held with Kozloduy NPP, the designer and fuel manufacturer, to discuss issues that arose during the review process. As part of the communication with the interested parties, topical questions posed by national representatives related to the process of licensing the new type of nuclear fuel were also answered. /BGNES
