Bulgaria learned last Thursday of the firm position of the European Commission on closing the old Chernobyl-type reactors of the Kozlodui Nuclear Power Plant. Bulgaria should close all four reactors by 2006, said EU Energy and Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio in Sofia.
“We will not accept any state in the EU, which has reactors that do not have the level of security required by EU standards,” de Palacio told a press conference last Thursday.
In 1999, the Government of Prime Minister Ivan Kostov signed a memorandum with the European Commission, by which it was agreed that Bulgaria would close the two oldest reactors – Units 1 and 2 – by 2003 as a condition for starting the negotiations for EU membership.
This year, the present Government is expected to complete talks on shutting the other two reactors – Units 3 and 4. The Commission wants them closed by the end of 2006, while Bulgaria insists on keeping them operational until 2008-2010.
“Bulgaria reached an agreement on this subject with 15 EU member states and thanks to its signature on this accord membership negotiations were opened,” de Palacio said. “The position of the EU is clear: units 3 and 4 must be closed by 2006 at the latest.”
The World Bank has estimated that the decommissioning of Units 3 and 4 of Kozlodui in 2006, as the EU insists, instead of 2008-2010 will cost the Bulgarian government $250 million. President Georgi Purvanov was told this after meeting de Palacio.
She also conferred with Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and other government members.
According to the EU Commissioner, at the moment, over 300 million euros ($264 million) are remitted from the EU to Bulgaria, 2 million euros ($1.76 million) of which are designed for the closure of reactors three and four.
It is not technically feasible to modernise units 1, 2, 3 and 4, that is why they must be closed down. According to de Palacio, the Bulgarian Government and the president said that, in principle, reactors 1 and 2 should be closed down by the end of the year. “When we say that units 3 and 4 must be closed down by 2006 at the latest, this means closing them a few years earlier than Bulgaria plans,” de Palacio said.
Discussing the construction of a nuclear plant at Belene, de Palacio said that every country had the sovereign right to make such a decision provided the safety levels of the new reactors were the same as those established in Europe.
In de Palacio’s opinion, the energy efficiency in Bulgaria was low both in regard to energy consumption and in regards to energy generation.
“We will not accept any state in the EU, which has reactors that do not have the level of security required by EU standards,” de Palacio told a press conference last Thursday.
In 1999, the Government of Prime Minister Ivan Kostov signed a memorandum with the European Commission, by which it was agreed that Bulgaria would close the two oldest reactors – Units 1 and 2 – by 2003 as a condition for starting the negotiations for EU membership.
This year, the present Government is expected to complete talks on shutting the other two reactors – Units 3 and 4. The Commission wants them closed by the end of 2006, while Bulgaria insists on keeping them operational until 2008-2010.
“Bulgaria reached an agreement on this subject with 15 EU member states and thanks to its signature on this accord membership negotiations were opened,” de Palacio said. “The position of the EU is clear: units 3 and 4 must be closed by 2006 at the latest.”
The World Bank has estimated that the decommissioning of Units 3 and 4 of Kozlodui in 2006, as the EU insists, instead of 2008-2010 will cost the Bulgarian government $250 million. President Georgi Purvanov was told this after meeting de Palacio.
She also conferred with Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and other government members.
According to the EU Commissioner, at the moment, over 300 million euros ($264 million) are remitted from the EU to Bulgaria, 2 million euros ($1.76 million) of which are designed for the closure of reactors three and four.
It is not technically feasible to modernise units 1, 2, 3 and 4, that is why they must be closed down. According to de Palacio, the Bulgarian Government and the president said that, in principle, reactors 1 and 2 should be closed down by the end of the year. “When we say that units 3 and 4 must be closed down by 2006 at the latest, this means closing them a few years earlier than Bulgaria plans,” de Palacio said.
Discussing the construction of a nuclear plant at Belene, de Palacio said that every country had the sovereign right to make such a decision provided the safety levels of the new reactors were the same as those established in Europe.
In de Palacio’s opinion, the energy efficiency in Bulgaria was low both in regard to energy consumption and in regards to energy generation.
