Regulations

Regulations related to thе application of the Act on the safe use of nuclear energy, nuclear safety, and radiation protection

The regulation defines all matters related to the procedures for issuing, changing, renewing, canceling, revoking and controlling the licenses and permits demanded by the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act. The structure of the regulation takes into consideration the specifics of the types of nuclear facilities, activities and sites with sources of ionizing radiation. The scope and contents of the required documents is specified taking into account the necessary measures for providing the nuclear safety, radiation and physical protection. For activities with certain types of ionizing radiation sources, based on the lower risk for the population and the environment, alleviations of the required documents is provided.

The regulation settles the matters related to the basic criteria and rules for the safety of nuclear power plants based on the concept of in-depth defense.
Subject to regulation are the organizational measures and technical requirements for providing of the safety during site selection, design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear power plants. The regulation contains detailed instructions related to the determination of the design basis and safety evaluations, the characteristics of the site and the safety requirements for the nuclear power plant and its systems.
The regulation is developed based on the IAEA safety standards and the reference levels for harmonization of the safety requirements for nuclear power plans, defined by the West European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA).

The regulation specifies basic criteria and rules for the safety of research nuclear installations. Subject to regulation are the organizational measures and technical requirements for providing of the safety during site selection, design, construction, commissioning and operation of research nuclear installations. The regulation contains detailed instructions related to the design basis and safety evaluations, the characteristics of the site and the safety requirements for the research nuclear installations.

The regulation reflects the requirements of the 96/29/EURATOM Directive, setting the basic standards for protecting the health of personnel and population from the damaging influence of ionizing radiation. The basic principles of radiation protection are developed, and the dose limits for personnel and population are set.
In accordance with the provisions of the Directive, the concept for releasing from control of radioactive substances due to permitted activities, and the concept for limitation of irradiation are introduced.
The Regulation sets requirements for monitoring of the working quarters, and the individual irradiation, as well as for the registration of the results of this monitoring.
The requirements of Directive 90/641/EURATOM for operational protection of outside workers from the damaging influence of ionizing radiation during their activities in the controlled areas are introduced.
In relation to the engagements of the Bulgarian side in the negotiations with the European Union, the Regulation introduces the basic principles and requirements for radiation protection from medical irradiation, taking into consideration Directive 84/466/EURATOM for health protection from the damaging influence of ionizing radiation from medical irradiation.

The regulation defines the basic requirements and rules for radiation protection during activities with sources of ionizing radiation and the condition and the procedure for accounting of the sources of ionizing radiation. The regulation puts in place requirements for radiation monitoring during activities with sources of ionizing radiation.
The regulation specifies technical and organizational rules for conforming to the established in Bulgaria basic norms for radiation protection.

The regulation defines the conditions and procedure for acquiring professional qualification for execution of activities in nuclear facilities, and facilities with sources of ionizing radiation, the positions for which qualification is required, the procedure for issuing licenses for specialized training and certificates for qualification, as well as the conditions and procedure for carrying out exams for acquiring qualification.

In the Regulation, according to the Safe use of nuclear energy Act and the convention for physical protection of nuclear material, the matters related to physical protection of nuclear facilities, and during use, storage and transportation of nuclear materials and radioactive substances are defined.
The provisions of the Regulation take into consideration the specifics of the different kinds of nuclear facilities, nuclear materials and radioactive substances, which demand different levels of physical protection, depending on the category of nuclear materials and radioactive substances and the degree of risk.

The regulation defines the obligations of the licensee or the holder of a permit for creation of a system for collecting, registration, investigation, analysis and evaluation of events and determination of corrective measures.
Also defined are the requirements for usage of the information about events, including for analysis of the operational experience, determining of the importance of the events for safety, as well as the procedure and terms for providing information to the citizens for events of different importance.

The regulation defines, in accordance to the provisions of the Safe Use Of Nuclear Energy Act, the conditions and procedure for developing emergency plans and the obligations of the persons who apply them.
The actions and measures for limitation and liquidation of the consequences of nuclear or radiation accident are also defined as well as the criteria for decision taking for their activation and the methods for informing the population. Subject to definition is also the maintenance and control of the emergency preparedness and the interaction between the executive authorities and the licensees or holders of permits according to the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act.

In the regulation the criteria for determining the size and boundaries of the zones with special status, the procedure for creating the zones and for exercising the powers of competent state authorities according to the law are established.
The regulation sets requirements for the activities of licensees and holders of permits, according to the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act, in the zones with special status, including for, provision of radiation monitoring of the environment and the population. Criteria are defined for the compensations for damages suffered from restrictions over usage of private real estate in the zones.

The regulation defines in detail the matters related to the basic criteria and rules for providing nuclear safety and radiation protection in the management of spent nuclear fuel according to the provisions of the Safe use of nuclear energy act, as well as the specific organizational measures and technical requirements for providing the safety during site selection, design, construction, commissioning and operation of facilities for spent nuclear fuel management.
Matters related to the technical safety, fire and physical protection, emergency planning and emergency preparedness of the spent nuclear fuel management facilities are defined in the draft of the regulation, to the extent that follows from the in-depth defense concept.

The regulation provides that the safe decommissioning of nuclear facilities to be implemented trough preliminary and interim panning, determination of a concept and developing of a plan for decommissioning, while for each stage of the planning, the safety of the decommissioning activities must be validated.
The Regulation defines the basic safety requirements during decommissioning for the maintenance of the safety related systems and equipment, for the deactivation and dismantling of the equipment, for the radiation protection and for the radioactive waste management. It is foreseen that with the completion of each stage of the decommissioning of the nuclear facility, the holder of the permit should develop and present to the regulator an actualized report on the safety evaluation of the completed stage.

The Regulation defines the requirements, regulations and rules for safety during site selection, design, construction, commissioning and operation of facilities for radioactive waste management.
The regulation also defines the obligations of the entities carrying out radioactive waste management activities. The entities which generate radioactive waste as a result of their activities are responsible for its safe management from the moment of generation of the radioactive waste to the moment it is transferred to the State enterprise “Radioactive waste” or until it is released from regulatory control.

The entities, which generate radioactive waste as a result of their activities, are obliged to transfer the waste to the State enterprise, which is responsible for the management of the radioactive waste after the deposit.
The regulation defines the conditions and procedure for transferring the radioactive waste to the State enterprise “Radioactive Waste” and the terms for the transfer, as well as the radioactive waste not eligible for transfer. Specific procedures are defined for transferring radioactive waste generated from previous activities, radioactive waste with unknown owner, or which has been imported to the country and cannot be returned.
The radioactive waste becomes state property at the moment of its transfer to the State enterprise.

According to Article 126 of the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act, the Regulation specifies the conditions and procedure for gathering and submitting of information and keeping records of the activities subject to the Agreement between Bulgaria and the IAEA for applying the guarantees related to the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Contract and the Additional Protocol to the Contract.
According to the provisions of the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act, the entities carrying out activities subject to the Agreement and the Additional Protocol, develop and apply internal rules and instructions for registration and Control of the type, quantity, location and movement of the nuclear material and its transportation. They present to the Chairman of the NRA the information necessary to comply with the obligations of the Republic of Bulgaria, due to these international contracts and grant access to the sites to the IAEA inspectors, and the NRA inspectors accompanying them, in accordance with the provisions of the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act.

According to the Vienna convention on civil liability for nuclear damage the operator of a nuclear facility is responsible for nuclear damage caused by a nuclear accident and is obliged to maintain an insurance or other financial guarantee, covering his liability.
Every agreeing country has the right to exempt small amounts of nuclear material from the application of the convention, up to a maximum limits defined by the managing board of the IAEA. According to Article 135 of the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act the Council of Ministers is delegated the authority to accept a Regulation, in which the terms and procedure for exemption of small quantities of nuclear material from the application of the Vienna convention to be determined.
The regulation was developed in accordance with the decision of the managing board of the IAEA dated 14-15 September 1978 for establishing the maximum limits for exempting small amounts of nuclear material from the application of the Vienna convention and with the IAEA safety standards for transportation of nuclear materials.

The Regulation determines the procedure for paying the fees for consideration of applications and for issuing of licenses and permits for activities, in accordance with the provisions of the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act.
Tariff for the fees collected by the NRA pursuant to the Act on the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy (60KB)
The tariff determines the size of the fees collected by the NRA for consideration of applications and for issuing of licenses and permits for activities, in accordance with the provisions of the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act. The sizes of the initial and annual license fees, as well as the fees for issuing of permits are determined depending of the complexity and the range of the regulatory control, and of the specifics of the relevant activity subject to state regulation in accordance with the provisions of the Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Act.

  • Regulation for the procedure for assessment, collection, spending and control of the financial resources and definition of the amount of contributions due on the “Nuclear facilities decommissioning” Fund

The regulation determines the procedure for assessment, collection, spending and control of the financial resources and definition of the amount of contributions due on the “Nuclear facilities decommissioning” Fund under auspices of the Minister of Energy and Energy Resources. The Fund is managed in a manner to assure implementation of the annual program of the permit holder for decommissioning of a nuclear facility. The revenues of the Fund are collected mainly from contributions from nuclear facility operators and national budget resources, allocated annually pursuant to the National Budget Act for the relevant year.

  • Regulation for the procedure for assessment, collection, spending and control of the financial resources and definition of the amount of contributions due on the “Radioactive waste” Fund

The regulation determines the procedure for assessment, collection, spending and control of the financial resources and definition of the amount of contributions due on the “Radioactive waste” Fund under auspices of the Minister of Energy and Energy Resources. The Fund is managed in a manner to assure implementation of the activities for radioactive waste management. The revenues of the Fund are collected mainly from contributions from legal and physical entities, which generate radioactive waste, due for transfer to the state enterprise “Radioactive waste”, as a result of their activities as well as from national budget resources, allocated annually pursuant to the National Budget Act for the relevant year. 

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