Bulgaria's government will delay its decision whether to go ahead with its second nuclear power plant project or not by at least another three months over concerns about safety and costs.

"We have to make a pause of at least three months to comply with all European decisions for beefing up safety measures, which might be taken," Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov announced, referring to Europe's response to the nuclear disaster in Japan.

Experts have warned however that should the need for another notification of the EIA-procedure arises, the delay will be up to six months.

Europe's atomic energy anxiety found Bulgaria hesitating over plans to get a second nuclear plant, in Belene, in the north.

For a country that has suffered from the Chernobyl disaster and decommissioned several nuclear reactors over safety concerns, Bulgaria's pursuit of atomic energy is controversial at best.

The accident at Japan's Fukushima plant only came to fuel further concerns about nuclear power and increased its unpopularity, at least among ordinary people, while the government is uncertain over the new reactors.

Earlier this week Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom demanded that an agreement with Bulgaria on the construction of Belene nuclear power plant is reached by the end of this month.

Speaking during an unexpected visit to Sofia, Rosatom representatives said they will not haggle with Bulgaria for the price of the construction of the 2000-MW Belene nuclear plant as it has already been set at EUR 6.3 B.

Sofia insists it will pay no more than EUR 5 M.

The plant was originally to be built by Russian company Atomstroyexport for EUR 4 B. The firm had signed a contract with the previous, Socialist-led government, swept from power by Borisov's conservative GERB party swept in last year's July elections.

Due to the delays in the launch of the construction works, stalled over price disputes and funding problems, Russia now says the project construction price should be increased to EUR 6.3 B.

Bulgaria's new center-right government suspended the construction of the nuclear power plant last year until it finds a new investor and funds to complete the project at Belene, on the Danube, 180 kilometres northeast of the capital Sofia.

The Bulgarian Energy Holding picked in November 2010 HSBC, one of UK's biggest banks, for a consultant to help it decide how to proceed and attract new investors for the planned Belene nuclear power plant.

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