Bulgaria's government will hopefully set a date for launching the construction of Bulgaria's second nuclear plant by the end of summer 2004, Vesselin Bliznakov, chairman of the parliamentary energy commission told national private TV channel bTV.
Bliznakov explained that the schedule would be clear after the project is thoroughly reviewed. Bulgaria would not give up building new energy resources, but it should meet the requirements of the European Union, he added.
At the end of December last year Bulgaria's Cabinet lifted the ban on the completion of Bulgaria's second nuclear plant. The project for its construction was shelved in 1992 after pressure from environmentalists.
In the words of the chairman of the parliamentary energy commission only failure to meet EU safety requirements could bring about the closure of Units 3 and 4 of Kozloduy nuclear power plant in 2006.
A peer review is to assess the current condition of the units from November 16 to 19. In case of a favourable for Bulgaria outcome, the closure of the two units will be discussed by all EU members.
The Bulgarian government agreed to close the two 440-megawatt units by 2006 under pressure from the EU. The closure of the two oldest units at the end of last year came after many years of concern over their safety, strong pressure from the European Union, protests from the nuclear lobby and opposition parties that the reactors are economically necessary.