Bulgaria wants to extend life of sole nuclear plant

SOFIA - Agence France-Presse

An environmental activist wearing a protective mask attends a protest in front of Bulgaria's parliament building in central Sofia on March 9, 2012 to mark the upcoming first anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. AFP photo

Bulgaria said on Friday it was considering extending by 20 years the operational life of its sole nuclear power plant, at Kozloduy, near the Romanian border.

The plant, which currently operates two pressurized water reactors with a total output of 2,000 megawatts, has asked Russian company Rosenergoatom and French firm EDF to conduct a safety review.
 
An extension to their operational life will depend on this safety review, the government said in a statement.
 
The plant's two reactors are currently due to come off line in 2017 and 2019, after nearly 30 years in service.
 
In March, Bulgaria said it was abandoning a project for a new 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant at Belene, on the Danube, to be built by Russian company Atomstroyexport.
 
A 1,000-megawatt reactor, destined for Belene and which the government says is mostly paid for, is to be installed at Kozloduy instead, though it was not immediately known if this will replace one of the existing reactors.
 
European Union member Bulgaria is almost totally dependent on Russia for its gas and oil supplies.