The equipment for Belene Nuclear Power Plant is stored according to the instructions prescribed by the manufacturers, said Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova at the meeting of the Energy Committee in parliament.

The Minister of Energy explained that half of the equipment had already been delivered to the Belene Nuclear Power Plant site as per the contract, and the other half was expected to arrive by the end of 2017.

Temenuzhka Petkova said that before the delivery the storage conditions had been inspected by the National Electricity Company, the manufacturing plants and Atomstroyexport. “The manufacturing plants have said that the storage conditions meet the requirements”, said the Minister of Energy.

Minister Petkova explained that one part of the equipment was stored indoors, while another part was stored under a shed, according to instructions. In her words, the packaging of the equipment was damaged during transportation, but has already been replaced according to the instructions of the manufacturing plants.

Temenuzhka Petkova added that all the equipment would be stored for at least 5 years. This requires the building of special constructions, for which a public procurement will be conducted at an estimated cost of 241,000 BGN. Meanwhile, a provisional construction will be made to ensure the good storage of the equipment.

The Energy Minister also said that the National Electricity Company had been negotiating with the manufacturing plants to conduct the re-conservation of the equipment under their supervision.

Minister Petkova assured the representatives of the Energy Committee that the equipment for Belene Nuclear Power Plant would be stored under good care. She said that as of today, as required by the National Electricity Company, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency launched an inspection on the storage of the reactors. The Energy Minister said that the Ministry of Energy would announce the results of the inspection in order to inform the Bulgarian public on how the equipment was being stored.