site.btaParliament Chair Kiselova Takes Part in Scientists' Sports Day, Wishes for Renaissance of Bulgarian Nuclear Science

On Tuesday, Parliament Chair Natalia Kiselova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences President Evelina Slavcheva, and Dimitar Tonev, Director of the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE), took part in a sports day for INRNE scientists, held under the motto "Peaceful Atom – Green Planet". Attending the event, Kiselova wished for a renaissance of Bulgarian nuclear science and urged people to think of science as something that can prevent disasters.

The official guests planted trees in the institute’s yard as a symbol of clean nuclear energy. "The Chernobyl disaster is a serious reason to reflect on how to prevent such events. At the foundation must be science, and nuclear energy must be part of the development of Bulgarian energy," Kiselova said in response to a question about the Chernobyl accident, whose 39th anniversary was marked a few days back.

Asked how the work of Parliament would be optimized, Kiselova replied that this depends on the work of each member of Parliament and the goals set by the parliamentary groups. According to her, the government has done quite a lot in its first one hundred days in office. When asked about President Rumen Radev’s criticism of the government, Kiselova commented that the president has the right to make political statements. "Let him criticize – I believe the government will show that some of the criticism is unfounded," she said.

INRNE Director Tonev said that the Institute marks the beginning of Bulgaria’s nuclear history. Commenting on the ruling coalition’s decision to retain the reactors intended for the Belene NPP and not sell them to Ukraine, Tonev said that scientists support the development of nuclear energy. "Whether the reactors are from Westinghouse or the VVERs that have already been delivered, what matters is that there is nuclear energy – and as long as there is expertise, it must be used," Tonev insisted.

"There is nothing better than safe nuclear energy, and that is why we must remember what happened 39 years ago, so it does not happen again. With joint efforts, we will move toward new successes in everything related to nuclear energy," Tonev added.

Also participating in the sports day were scientists from the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Institute of Electronics, the Central Laboratory of Solar Energy and New Energy Sources at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and the State Enterprise Radioactive Waste.