Dr. Bogomil Manchev

Dr. Bogomil Manchev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on December 31, 1957. He earned a master’s degree in Thermal Nuclear Energy at the Higher Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in Sofia (today’s Technical University – Sofia). On December 1, 1984 he started work at Kozloduy NPP as a reactor operator of Unit 1. He quickly grew to the most responsible operational position – unit shift supervisor. In this role, he became a pioneer in carrying out many challenging activities, unique for Bulgaria at the time, related to the commissioning of units 5 and 6. In addition to Kozloduy, he worked at the nuclear research reactor facility of the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He completed postgraduate studies in Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence. In 1992, together with colleagues, he founded and managed the first private engineering company specialized in the field of safety analysis in Bulgaria. Over the years the companies managed by Dr. Eng. Manchev prove to be worthy competitors of the leading Western leaders in the field of nuclear energy and are a key part of the most important projects in Bulgaria, including the modernization of Kozloduy NPP and the development of the Belene NPP project. In 2001 he defended a doctoral dissertation on “Reliability characteristics of systems important for the safety of WWER 1000 reactors”.

In June 2001, the Bulgarian Atomic Forum Association (Bulatom) was established – a non-governmental organization that brings together companies providing services, equipment and individual experts in the field of nuclear energy. Bulatom aims to inform public opinion on nuclear energy as an important part of Bulgaria’s energy policy, to support the Bulgarian nuclear industry and to be its ambassador to Europe through its membership in the European Atomic Forum (FORATOM). Dr. Eng. Manchev is Chairman of the Management Board of the Association.