Safety & Security in Transportation of Nuclear and Other Radioactive Materials

In recent years most of the problems concerning the Nuclear Energy Industry in the Republic of Bulgaria are related to the fast and safe de-commissioning of the “Kozloduy” Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 to 4. As a result of this a number of byproducts and nuclear waste have emerged as an issue of safety relocation, transportation and storage. In order to meet specific requirements for Nuclear Safety Transportation of those kinds of materials a large list of prerequisites in terms of action points, planning and analysis must be observed such as: • Planning, Production, Servicing/Repair of Packing kits. • Analysis and Planning of Transportation (e.g. technology, technical means, schedules), • Assignment of transportation to a contractor, loading/unloading of materials, as well as temporary storage while in transit. Last but not least an important item is the acceptance and verification at end location of all radioactive materials as well as their packing/transportation kits. Transportation of radioactive materials on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria (or transit of such materials) is conducted after special Transportation Permit/License is issued which is signed and approved by the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency in accordance with the National Act on Safe Use of Nuclear Energy in the Republic of Bulgaria. Transportation of radioactive materials can take place several times after PERMIT/License have been issued (no need for separate approval/permit is required) as long as the parameters of the specific transportation co-respond to the parameters defined in the Original Permit/License. Very important and specific issue is the fact that any kind of transportation of Nuclear Material can only take place after the approval of the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, and for every specific transportation event, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency issues a separate Permit.