Bulgaria has taken action to protect the Kozloduy nuclear power plant from a diesel oil spill in the Danube. Barriers were installed to divert the oil patches away from the water pumping station serving the cooling system. In addition, the pumps’ grids were covered with geotextile which filters oil products and prevents the pumps from drawing polluted water which could damage the installations.
Earlier, Bulgaria’s Energy Committee chairman, Ivan Shilyashki, had said more investment would be allocated this year for further safety upgrades at Kozloduy. Up to $120 million would be spent on a programme to upgrade the four 440 MWe units. Last year, over 27% of the total investment in Bulgaria’s energy sector of 240 billion levs ($144 million) was spent on improving Kozloduy’s safety. The plant provided over 48% of the country’s electricity in 1998. The plant’s two bigger reactors, units 5 and 6, will be further modernised by a European consortium (including Germany’s Siemens, France’s Framatome and Russia’s Atomenergoexport) and Westinghouse.
