| Bulgaria wants to reopen two nuke units |
| 13 January 2007 | 12:34
| Source:
Reuters |
SOFIA --
Bulgaria will try to push the European Commission to let it reopen two nuclear reactors closed due to safety concerns.
In an interview with Reuters, energy minister Rumen Ovcharov was adamant that if not, the country will seek to raise the 570 million euros offered by Brussels to help pay for mothballing four of Kozloduy's six reactors to one billion euros as compensation.
Bulgaria agreed to shut down two 440 MW nuclear reactors at its Kozloduy plant at the end of 2006 ahead of its entry into the bloc on January 1.
Now, using its new EU member status and pointing to reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency that say upgrades have improved safety levels at the plant, Sofia has revived hopes to overcome concern among older EU members and restart the units.
"There is a heavy power regime in Albania," Minister Ovcharov said. There are serious power shortages in Macedonia and Kosovo ... The Commission cannot turn a blind eye to that," he added.
Bulgaria will bring the issue up at the meeting of energy ministers next month, the minister said, "and only after that will we think about compensation."
Until now the leading power exporter in South Eastern Europe, Bulgaria has warned of a potential energy crisis in the region, where it covers 80% of the power deficit.
It exported a record 7.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2006 but plans almost no exports this year because of the shutdowns.
Analysts say its chances of re-opening the units are slim, as Brussels has taken a hard line on shutting down Soviet-designed reactors in ex-communist Slovakia and Lithuania, which joined the EU in 2004.
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