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Summary

POST-CONFERENCE TECHNICAL VISIT

The RRFM delegates can choose between the three following technical tours:

First option: Sofia IRT-200 research reactor

Wednesday 3 May 2006 (half day) - Departure at 14.30 and return at 17.00

The research reactor just outside Sofia is a two-megawatt reactor built in the late 1950s. It was closed down for decommissioning in 1989 and is currently being reconstructed into low-power, low-enriched fuel research reactor. The planned reactor would mainly be used for education and training purposes.

Under the GTRI programme, the IAEA, US, Russia and Bulgaria have collaborated in 2003 to airlift 16.9 kilograms of HEU to a secure facility in Russia. The visit includes the radio-chemical laboratory.

Second option: Novi Han nuclear waste repository

Wednesday 3 May 2006 (half day) - Departure at 14.30 and return at 18.00

The Novi Han repository was commissioned in 1964 and is located in the Losen Mountains close to the Novi Han village, at about 30 km from Sofia.

It is the only one existing repository in Bulgaria for final disposal of radioactive waste generated during the applications of radio-nuclides in clinical therapy and diagnosis, industry and research. Nuclear fuel cycle waste or waste from uranium mining and milling are not accepted.

The repository comprises several different disposal vaults:

Different types of radioactive waste are temporarily stored above the ground. All disposal units are multi-barrier engineered structures. The RRFM delegates will visit the storage and disposal units, the laboratory for control and characterization of RAW, and the radiation protection control centre.

Third option: Nuclear power plant in Kozloduy

Thursday 4 May 2006 (full day) - Departure at 08.00 and return at 18.00 (lunch included)

Kozloduy NPP is located on the Danube River bank, 200 km north-west from Sofia and at 5 km east from the town of Kozloduy constructed in the late 1960s. The power plant consists of six light water reactor units (4 VVER-440 units and 2 VVER-1000 units) with a total capacity of 3760 MW.

In view of Bulgaria's accession to the EU, the Bulgarian government has entered into a political understanding with the European Commission to close down units 1 to 4. Units 1 and 2, with a total capacity of 880 MW, were shut down for decommissioning in 2002. Units 3 and 4 are scheduled to be closed down in 2006. Until then, 4 units with a total capacity of 2880 MW are in operation. A modernisation programme for units 5 and 6 is now being implemented.

Kozloduy NPP produces around 40% of the domestic electricity. Bulgaria is also major electricity exporter in the Balkans, selling over 6 billion kilowatt-hours of electrical power per year.

The visit to Kozloduy will include a meeting with the Director of the safety and Security Department, Mitko Yankov.

On the way back to Sofia, the RRFM delegates will visit the Radecki Boat Museum. The boat played an important role in the Bulgarian struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire.

More info on Kozloduy at www.kznpp.org/main_en.php.

Practicalities

Buses will be provided from and to the Kempinski Hotel. Do not forget to bring your ID or passport with you on the visit.

Please register by filling in the appropriate section of the registration form and give the mandatory information for the security check: your nationality, date and place of your birth, your home address and your ID or passport details.

Please note the following:

The three technical visits are included in the registration fee.