Completion of the project “Safe Nuclear Energy – Regional Excellence Program”

Within the framework of the Agreement between the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Bulgaria on the implementation of the Program for economic growth and sustainable development, an individual project No 2008/115264 “Safe Nuclear Energy – Regional Excellence Program” was realized, which was completed on 30 April 2011.

The project was focused on the development of a series of training programs for the staff of the two Bulgarian beneficiaries - NRA and Kozloduy NPP and to serve as an example for other countries at various stages of nuclear power generation development. Two areas of safety significant importance were covered by the project, namely Emergency Preparedness and Response and Safety Culture. The counterpart from the Norwegian side was the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority. The IAEA Extra Budgetary Fund was used as a tool for project implementation. The involvement of the IAEA was aimed at achieving the quality assurance of all project aspects.

As a result of the project implementation the following was gained:

• Guidelines for Regulatory Oversight of Safety Culture in Licensees’ Organizations;
• The following documents were developed for Kozloduy NPP:

- Safety Culture Self Assessment Guide,

- Safety Culture Continuous Improvement Guide and

- Guide to Developing and Maintaining Values that Support a Positive Safety Culture;

• Training is carried out on Safety Culture Self Assessment;
• Development of the IAEA’s Safety Culture documents was initiated, where the experience gained from the project implementation in Bulgaria will be applied. Bulgarian participants in the project are invited as experts.
• Joint emergency exercise was conducted with participation of Kozloduy NPP, CNCAN (Romanian nuclear regulator), NRA and relevant Departments of the Ministries of Interior from both countries.
• Installation of the Safety Parameter Display System (SPDS) and Post Accident Monitoring System (PAMS) in the Emergency Response Center in NRA.

The conclusion of the beneficiaries is that the project is implemented successfully.