On November 23 2007, a nuclear expert together with environmental groups from Bulgaria called on the European Commission (EC) not to approve the construction of Bulgaria’s second nuclear power plant (NPP) in Belene.

The place where the NPP was to be built was in a seismic zone, they warned, as quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Georgi Kaschiev, former head of Bulgaria’s nuclear safety authority, said that “the Commission, and President (Jose Manuel) Barroso, are unfortunately playing Russian roulette with our citizens and our societies.”

The EC “was preparing to endorse the project without studying all the risks,” Kaschiev and the environmentalist groups said. In Late 1970’s nearly 120 people died in an earthquake in the town of Svishtov, which is some 14 km from Belene, they said.

According to environmental groups, the NPP construction would force Bulgaria’s government to apply for millions of euros in EU loans.

Russian company Atomstroyexport would construct the NPP. The environmentalists reminded that is 84 per cent of the company was owned by Russian Gazprom, and the NPP construction would make Bulgaria more dependent on Russia.

AFE quoted Greenpeace Europe nuclear expert Jan Haverkamp as saying that Belene “was an important test-case, as other central European countries are considering plans for new nuclear power plants or reviving old ones from communist times.”