The acting Minister of Energy Traycho Traykov will open the National Repository for Radioactive Waste in our country today. The official ceremony is scheduled for 11:30 and will take place at the specially constructed site “Radiana“ near the nuclear power plant, the energy ministry announced.
The facility is of strategic importance and is intended solely for processed and secured waste generated on the territory of Bulgaria. According to the institutions, it will store low- and medium-level materials from industry, medicine and everyday life. The waste from the decommissioning of the first four units of the “Kozloduy” NPP, as well as that from future new nuclear power plants, will also be stored there.
The ministry explicitly specifies that no high-level waste or spent nuclear fuel will be stored at the site.
The large-scale complex consists of 66 reinforced concrete structures. Its total capacity is calculated to accommodate exactly 19,000 containers of radioactive waste, with plans to fill it gradually over 60 years. According to the operating protocols, during this period, as well as over the next 300 years, the site will be subject to continuous control by authorized state and international bodies.
The construction of the repository was financed free of charge with approximately 76 million euros from the “Kozloduy” International Fund through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). National co-financing from the state budget amounts to about 34 million leva.
The construction went through a long period of preparation, with the government decision dating back to 2005, and the actual construction activities started in the summer of 2017. The facility received a permit for use from the DNSK in March 2026.
According to the BTA agency, by a decision of the Council of Ministers of March 25 this year, the State Enterprise "Radioactive Waste" was officially designated as the operator operating the nuclear installation. A mandatory condition for the start of work is the presence of a solid financial guarantee that would cover liability for possible nuclear damage.