Bulgaria should press for renewed talks on the safety of units 3, 4 of its only nuclear power plant in the town of Kozloduy, the country's Nuclear Regulation Agency Chief Emil Vapirev said Thursday, cited by local Darik radio.

Still, Chairman of the International Nuclear Regulators' Association Judith Melin, who is currently in Bulgaria and visited the Kozloduy plant, said that the unit should not keep working after 2006. Melin -- who is also the director of the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate -- met with Bulgaria's Energy Minister Milko Kovachev on Wednesday, and praised the plant's managers for complying with most of the Agency's recommendations so far.

The country has agreed to close the two 440-megawatt reactors by 2006 under pressure from the European Union. However, many state officials still claim that the units could also work safely after this deadline expires. Experts also warn that preliminarily closing the two units could arouse the need of high-price power imports, prompting an economic crisis.

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