The Bulgarian Post
2006-11-28 09:15:34

Bulgaria will sign a euro4 billion (US$5.2 billion) deal with Russia's Atomstroyexport to build two 1,000-megawatt reactors at Bulgaria's second nuclear power plant, Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov said Tuesday.

French nuclear company Areva and Germany's Siemens will participate in the construction. The first unit would be operational in 6.5 years, the national electricity company said.

Ovcharov told state television that the contract would be signed on Wednesday, AP news agency reported.

The Russian firm, 49.8 percent controlled by gas giant Gazprom, last month outbid a Czech consortium to build the two reactors at the Danube port of Belene, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

Czech Skoda Alliance did not object to the final decision, leaving no obstacles before the launch of the project.

Last month, Bulgaria's electricity company said the main reasons for selecting the Russian company were "the higher safety and the longer term of operation of the reactors."

Bulgaria's government has invested more than US$1 billion to build two 1,000 megawatt nuclear units at Belene, but froze the project in 1990 after environmentalists said it could pose a safety risk.

The project was revived last year to compensate for the closure of two aging units at the country's only nuclear plant in Kozlodui, which the Balkan country agreed to shut at the end of this year under its entry treaty with the European Union. Bulgaria will join the EU in January.

Bulgaria is the biggest electricity exporter in the Balkans, providing its neighbors and other Balkan countries with more than 7 million megawatt-hours of electricity per year.

The Belene project is hailed as an opportunity for Bulgaria to secure its growing electricity needs and maintain its position as an energy hub in the region.

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