VARNA /Bulgaria/, June 5. /TASS/. Nuclear energy specialists note the growing influence of politicians on the development of nuclear energy and point to growing risks for the safe use of nuclear power plants, Head of the Nuclear Knowledge Management Institute in Vienna Professor Yanko Yanev told TASS.

Commenting on the replacement of the Russian nuclear fuel used at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with the American one, the expert said: "The issue of replacing the Russian nuclear fuel with the American one is not of a technical, but of a political nature." "The experience of using American fuel at a Czech NPP has shown that there is a risk of extraordinary situations, and now only God knows how this fuel will behave at our plant and whether the modernized in-reactor control system, which should simultaneously monitor the behavior of both American and Russian fuel cartridges, will be able to provide timely and accurate information. Unfortunately, nowadays politicians control the agenda in the nuclear energy sphere, they are the ones taking decisions, and only after that they tailor technical capacities, funding, and other details. Now they have taken a political decision in favor of the American fuel on the Russian reactor of the Bulgarian NPP," the expert pointed out.

Business relations must be preserved

Yanev clarified that the price for the American fuel is a commercial secret, but theoreticized that it would cost Bulgaria more than the Russian one. The biggest drawback of the deal is that Sofia has severed ties with the reactor's chief designer, who opposed the plant's switch to alternative fuel, he added.

"Unfortunately, current Bulgarian politicians don't think about this, forgetting that big countries should not necessarily be loved, but respected. Russia is a big country, and Bulgaria has been closely cooperating with it in the field of nuclear energy for 50 years. It is very likely that it would be difficult to ensure the safe and effective operation of the Kozloduy NPP units without Russian specialists," he pointed out. "Cutting ties with the chief designer, as the Bulgarian colleagues are doing now, is dangerous for the plant’s safety. However, in my opinion, Rosatom should also look at the situation in Bulgaria more calmly and be ready to help its customers if necessary, because in any case - whether Russian or American fuel is loaded into the reactor - the reactor was made by Russian specialists," he concluded.