|
Bulgaria revives old nuclear project once awarded to Russia
[PRESSTV] Bulgaria's parliament opened the way Thursday to revive a long-delayed project to build a new nuclear power plant by tasking the energy minister to hold talks with potential strategic investors.The decision was backed by 172 MPs from all parties in the 240-seat chamber, with only 14 voting against. It will allow Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to enter into negotiations with possible investors for a new 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Belene on the Danube. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the text approved by MPs means Petkova will not be allowed to offer any state credit guarantees or preferential electricity contracts to any new participant in the project. In 2012, Bulgaria scrapped a previous deal to build the plant with Russia's nuclear company Atomstroyexport, after failing to find any foreign investors prepared to shoulder its spiraling costs, estimated at the time at about 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion). Bulgaria had also come under US and EU pressure to limit its energy dependence on Russia. The scrapping of the project angered Russia, which had hoped to use Belene as an EU showcase for its new generation of pressurized water reactors. Posted by: Fred 2018-06-08 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=515969 |