European Nuclear Society
e-news Issue 33 Summer 2011
http://www.euronuclear.org/e-news/e-news-33/bulgaria.htm

BULGARIAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY’s ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The Bulgarian Nuclear Society (BgNS), under the patronage of the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency and in cooperation with the European Nuclear Society (ENS) and Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), France, held its annual conference from 26 - 29 September, 2010 at the Black Sea coastal resort of Nessebar, Bulgaria. This year’s conference was entitled: Nuclear power for people.

Nessebar, the Pearl of the Black Sea

Nessebar is a town with a rich history, often referred to as the "Pearl of the Black Sea." Its abundance of historic buildings prompted UNESCO to include it in its list of World Heritage Sites, in 1983. Nessebar is one of the oldest towns in Europe. It is the « successor » to the ancient Thracian settlement called Mesambria that was founded at the location in the Second Century AD. Around the year 680, the town was an episcopal centre, and from the VII - VIII centuries it was an important, strong and well-protected Byzantine naval base. In the year 812, Khan Krum conquered the town. In 864, Boris I yielded possession of the town to the Byzantines, but King Simeon subsequently recaptured it.

In 1956, Nessebar was proclaimed an architectural and archeological conservation site. The remnants of an antique fortified wall with a gate dating from III - IV Century, the churches from V -VI centuries and the others dating from the medieval period (X - XIV centuries) - which are fine works of the medieval Bulgarian and Byzantine architecture - and 60 houses dating from the revival period, give the town a unique appearance and atmosphere.

The Annual Conference brought together young and experienced specialists working in the field of nuclear energy, as well as in the field of medical physics - for which nuclear technology is applied to enable radiotherapy to be delivered to patients. The conference also gives an opportunity to specialists to exchange knowledge and experience. Reports were presented and discussions took place throughout the conference. They were focused on the various applications of nuclear science for the good of the public and on the key role that the human factor plays in both nuclear medicine and in the training of specialists for the nuclear industry.

The conference was attended by prominent Bulgarian and foreign scientists, experts and young professionals in various fields - physicists, engineers, chemists, physicians from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, NPP Kozloduy, the universities of Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna, the National Center for Radiobiology and the Medical University of Sofia. Also present were companies active in the field of nuclear energy, from nuclear research centers in Belgium, France, Russia, Japan, India, to the European Commission, the European Joint Research Center and the European Nuclear Society.

The list of the invited lecturers included: Gerard Cognet (CEA, France), Y. Yanev (IAEA, Vienna), V. Sabelová (FEI STU, Slovakia), O. Berar (Slovenia), R. Svoboda (CNS, Czech Republik), J. Deckers (Belgoprocess N.V, Belgium), Z. Szaraz (JRC, EC), A. Bentaib, E. Wattelle, V. Bertrand, P. Dupuy, B. Dimitrov, L. Sabotinov, N. Matahri (IRSN, France), M. Sage (Worley Parsons), Neli Yankova (BNRA), Tihomir Apostolov (INRNE),  etc.

A pilot training course entitled: RPV Surveillance Programme - was prepared and organised by A. Ballesteros (Spain). The course leader was Tatiana Karseka of the IAEA. The course was useful for PhD or Master Students, as well as young professionals. Those who attended received a certificate.

People attending the RPV Surveillance Programme training course

As usual an annual competition to recognise and reward young authors had been organised. Young specialists once again had the opportunity to present and gain recognition for their work and during the conference the three best ones were awarded prizes, as follows:

1. First Prize went to K. Philipov, of the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria, for the report entitled: INTERNAL FLOODING DYNAMICS MODELING – VERIFICATION ANALYSIS

2. Second Prize went to D. Lefterova, of the National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Bulgaria for the report entitled: POTENTIAL FOR REDUCTION OF PATIENT DOSES IN PEDIATRIC CT EXAMINATIONS.

3. Third Prize went to Ovidiu-Adrian Berar, of the Jožef Stefan Institute", in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for the work entitled: TRACE CODE VALIDATION AGAINST ACHILLES REFLOOD EXPERIMENT.

An additional prize was also awarded to V. Sabelová, V. Slugeň and T. Kliment, of the Slovak University of Technology, in Bratislava, for their combined work entitled : SAFETY ANALYSIS OF THE INITIATING EVENT : TRIP OF MAIN CIRCULATION PUMPS AT MOCHOVCE NPP UNIT 1, USING CONSERVATIVE AND BEST ESTIMATES APPROACHES AND UNCERTAINTY EVALUATION OF BASE CRITERION PARAMETER.

There was also a best poster award, presented to the young author M. Kocheva, of INRNE - BAS, Bulgaria, for the poster entitled: INVESTIGATON OF CSF HEAT SINK FOR VVER1000 REACTOR IN SHUT DOWN CONDITIONS.

The conference was a very interesting event. A number of key issues were also debated from a science management point of view. All scientific and technological papers from the BgNS conference will be published in BgNS Transactions – the society’s science and technology journal. During the conference special emphasis was put on establishing closer collaboration within the Balkan region.

The Bulgarian Nuclear Society would like to express its concern about the need to preserve and ensure that the human resources needed to sustain nuclear energy, today and tomorrow, are made available.

Ms. Boryana Atanasova, M.Sc.
Bulgarian Nuclear Society
Executive Secretary
Phone: (+359 2) 979 55 83
Cell:-(+359 87) 7 382 384
Fax:-(+359 2) 975 3619
E-mail: b_atanasova@inrne.bas.bg

© European Nuclear Society, 2011