Yanko Yanev: the 0-0 game

AtomInfo.Ru, PUBLISHED 20.10.2013

The 57^th session of the IAEA General Conference was held in Vienna from 16 to 20 September 2013. On the sidelines, CEO of the Vienna Institute for Nuclear Knowledge Management, IAEA adviser Professor Yanko Yanev talked to the AtomInfo.Ru journalists.

CONTINUED BELOW

Yanko Yanev, photo AtomInfo.Ru

A difficult situation

Mr. Yanev, what is your vision of the current situation in the nuclear industry in Bulgaria?

I would say that the situation is difficult. It is not complicated, but it is difficult. Because, it is very difficult in principle to understand what is now happening in Bulgaria.

Judge for yourself. We have a project that is ready-to-use on the Belene NPP. It is very good project, undergone all stages of licensing and ready to get license immediately. This project has passed the audit by the European Commission and has been approved in the EU.

I'm talking about the project with the Russian VVER reactor. It can rightfully be called innovative project that meets the requirements of Generation 3 and even 3+.

We have the project. We lack the political decisions and the government's commitment to proceed it.

Why? Because the political situation in Bulgaria is quite complicated. After the election, everything is going as the game with the 0-0 score 0-0. No one can score.

In the present ruling coalition of Bulgaria there is no an absolute majority supporting the Belene project.

There is a party ("Attack" - Comm . AtomInfo.Ru), which fully supports nuclear power. It has its own problems, I'm not a politician, I am a power engineer, and I'm not ready to discuss it. But the party expresses strong support to the Belene project and belief that it should be realized. Other parties hesitate whether it is necessary or not. In other words, the situation is complicated.

You know that the whole process of construction and design of the plant takes six to seven or even eight years. And then, when you start the NPP construction - and we are ready to do it in Bulgaria - it necessary to be occupied only with it. We must build by leaps and bounds to not to exceed the budget and to do everything correctly and in time.

Now the time delays and negotiations lead to costs increase. It is not a cigarettes selling stall, it's a nuclear power plant. And it must be understood. It is a super-project, a multi-billion dollar project.

That's the today's situation in Bulgaria. In parallel, there is a discussion - whether it is necessary to build on the Kozloduy site? A new company starts the whole process from scratch. The question is whether we should start from "A", when we're on "Z"? There is, of course, some logic, because it is essential to prolong the activity of the Kozloduy plant.

The narrowness of the political thinking

Unfortunately, we live in this age of narrow political thinking. Each of our politicians think how to survive, whether he will be the next convocation of the parliament or the government or not.

So he finds support from a particular lobby. If he contacts with the anti-nuclear lobby, he'll shout about harmfulness of Belene project. If he is supported by the nuclear lobby, he'll insist on the recommencement of construction of NPP "Belene".

This situation is not conducive to normal development. We must move away from lobbying approach. Instead, we have perform an objective evaluation of the energy system in Bulgaria.

We have now 35% of electricity generation produced by nuclear power plants. It was 50%, but when four VVER-440 units have been closed the nuclear fraction of power balance was downed to 35%. If we build a pair of reactors-"thousanders", we will again meet 50% mark.

Despite such a large share of nuclear generation, we still do not have a clear understanding of how nuclear power will be developed in Bulgaria. We must have but we have not the clear consensus of thinking that would not depend on the outcome of the election. This mindset has to be an element of national development.

You can not start the NPP construction if the next political game-winner says "We do not want a new nuclear power plant." The instability of political decision-making creates problems in nuclear energy field, and this is true not only for Bulgaria.

The nuclear power is the long-lived branch of economy. The lifetime of NPP is a lot more than the lifetime for most of the politicians. Remember that the nuclear plant lives and operate for 60 years and the 20-year-more extension is possible, depending on how it operates.

That is, if you built a nuclear power plant at the time of the October Revolution in Russia, it could still be living. Can you imagine - those who organized the revolution and those who opposed them have passed away a long time ago but the plant was still running and would produce electricity!

We have now created the society with the high level of energy dependence. We have no real money because our banks are sitting on electronic money. What would happen if you suddenly lost electricity? Money disappear, the hospitals stop to functionate, the transportation and water supply shutdown. New York would die away. Imagine yourself, what will be left from Moscow, if this city would be disconnected from the grid.

And it turns out that all of us need the nuclear power plants. Because they are long-lived, stable and producing energy at a steady pace.

Of course, there are countries like Russia, where there is more strategic thinking than in Bulgaria. The nuclear power plant is not a plaything. Chernobyl, Fukushima and TMI-2 gave us the clear proof for this statement. It should be an appropriate attitude of everyone to the nuclear power, from politician to technician. This is what we call a nuclear culture.

But in Bulgaria we can't instill in such a culture. One of the premier-minister said that the foundation-pit in Belene was a lake, and offered to breed carps. I would say that such attitude is impossible, regardless if you for or against the nuclear power. You must be respectful to the work and money invested to produce this base-sheet of plant.

Everyone reads as he likes

Now Bulgaria needs the serious political thought. No matter what kind of decisions will be made. It is essential that everybody would be responsible for taken decisions.

I underline the word "responsibility". Do you remember what happened when we were closing four Kozloduy units? What the politicians thought about? They thought, "Aha! Europeans support me. So, if they say to close the units, then I'll close them." Well, the units are shut down, and now what? Electricity has suddenly become very expensive, and people went to the streets.

Look, the wind turbines, the solar plant... Here in Bulgaria we are investing huge amounts of money in these solar stations. And the people can not cover these investments, it does not have the money to do. Who authorized this? Who thought so? And who will cover these investments? The God does not pay the bills, it is the prerogative of us sinners. The renewable plants have the subsidized rate. In other words, an uncle from the street came to the people and asked to pay him extra.

It is necessary to go back and prepare the competent political and technical concepts of the energy system development in Bulgaria. We must decide how we want to develop our country. So, they say, we need tourism. Okay, but for tourism, too, you need electricity. Who will go to a place where there is no air-conditioner and there is no entertainment?

Also, if you have a strong power base, then you can sell the electricity to other consumers. Macedonia, and Serbia and Albania, and Turkey, and Greece - all countries in the Balkan region need energy.

I insist - we need the well-designed energy development strategy in Bulgaria. Moreover, an agreement should be concluded between all political forces in our country. Main parties and forces should say: "Okay, a strategy is written and approved, and we will change no items of this document based on our immediate interests. Of course, sometimes we will compare and adjust the strategy to the global trends."

Bulgaria's situation is not unique. But in countries where there is virtually no national energy resources - such as Bulgaria - the issue of energy development strategy is particularly acute.

You can argue that Bulgaria has reserves of lignite. But as a friend of mine said: "The black earth in the Donbass is much more energy intensive, than the lignite in Bulgaria."

Of course, the energy is a political element, whether we like it or not. For example, would we build the South Stream? Some people shout: "No, it's Russia, ecology and so on." Yeah, good. I am asking: "Suppose that non-Russian tanker would sail to our beaches and, God forbid, will sink. What will happen to our coast? Why we don't show concern about environment in this case?".

You know, I am a pessimist with regard to a political solution in Bulgaria. Our politicians do not know the word "consensus" and do not understand the word "priority". For everybody it means different, and everybody has his own consensus.

Should we attract the IAEA to assist us in the development of a national energy strategy of Bulgaria? I always suggest to do it. In particular, I said the same thing on this IAEA General Conference.

If you cannot make up your mind, if an expert from one party does not confide in an expert from another, you should invite an independent third party - the Agency. But it is still not invited.

If you remember, not so long ago one of our governments invited independent consultants from HSBC banking group. They told nothing negative about the new nuclear power plant in principle, and prepared three scenarios, according to one of them the construction of the new station wasn't worth, and the other two scenarios were positive.

But everyone reads the Gospel as he likes. He closes one part of the text, and another part reads aloud ... So it was with Belene, so it was with the closing of our units with VVER- 440.

I want to say, and it should be remembered. In nuclear power, as in mathematics, there are two provisions.

The first - it must be technologically competent, innovative and sustainable. The second - we must have a competent political thought, strategic thought.

But in Bulgaria we think only for a year ahead. If you build the most modern reactor, but not pursue the necessary policy, it will not work.

For example, I don't tell that the reactor in Iran is bad. It might be very good. But it was done wrong politically; many people do not like this.

What do I mean? You must sign the necessary guarantees, conventions, agreements - all these political documents. You cannot just say: "I have the best design, and I am not interested in these papers". It does not work.

The political and technical competence is a necessary condition for the nuclear energy evolution.

Thank you, Mr. Yanev, for an interview for the AtomInfo.Ru online newspaper.

Topics: Interview, East Europe, Bulgaria, NPP Belene

---

Other news:

The celebration ceremony of the first concrete installation took place at Tianvan NPP unit 4

The Chinese party was represented by officers from CNNC and JNPS.

Russia Gives Iran Control of Bushehr Nuclear Plant

Construction of the power plant began in the 1970s but was plagued by delays.

Rosatom to Be Key Contractor in Finnish NPP Project – Putin Aide

Finland currently operates four nuclear reactors in two power plants, all located on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

---

---

---

---

Search: