US TO INQUIRE ABOUT BALKAN ENERGY STABILITY AND BULGARIA’S NUCLEAR UNITS

09:04 Mon 05 Mar 2007

US officials will discuss the Balkan’s energy stability and the eventual re-opening of Kozloduy nuclear power plant units (NPP) during a visit of European energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs.

Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Roumen Ovcharov met representatives of the US energy sector during an official visit to Washington.

Assistant secretary for policy and international affairs of the US department of energy Karen Harbert discussed with Ovcharov energy issues, the development of nuclear energy production and liberalisation of the energy market.

Bulgarian news agency BTA reported that energy problems that the Balkan region experienced after the closure of units three and four of Kozloduy NPP featured among the main topics.

Bulgaria shut down the two units in December 2006 as one of the pre-conditions for its EU entry. Before the closure Bulgaria featured as one of the main electricity exporters in the Balkan region.

During his visit, Ovcharov also met under secretary for international trade Franklin Lavin. The two discussed the state of Bulgaria’s economy and its development potential.

Ovcharov offered the visit of US business representatives to Bulgaria. US companies could present their activities and seek local partners, Ovcharov said.

Comments

Comments by Jan Haverkamp - Greenpeace - 10:36 05 Mar 2007
	Sigh... Did Sofia Echo double-check this information? Ovcharov is as source not really reliable... remember all the banks, El Barradei, Euratom and other institutes he claimed supported Belene and did not after checking with one simple telephone call... If the US people (who?) would indeed discuss Kozloduy 3,4 with Piebalgs, we already know the answer: re-opening requires unanimous support from all EU members and several will veto, K3,4 are dangerous (in spite of what Ovcharov claims), so there is no chance whatsoever. The current US administration is furthermore not the most logical one to discuss the relation between a liberalising energy market and nuclear power with. With a huge subvention programme, the Bush administration tries to put some breath into the dying nuclear sector in the US - this so called GNEP is currently under strong criticism there in both houses, amongst others because of its market-distorting effect of subsidizing what after 52 years should be grown-up technologies.