The supervisory board of RWE, one of the bidders vying for a 49% stake in Bulgaria's planned nuclear power plant of Belene, is scrutinizing the project over safety concerns.

German newspaper Die Welt, citing supervisory board sources, reported municipal shareholders and worker representatives oppose the plans of RWE to become operator of the plant because of concerns that Belene is located in an earthquake zone.

Shareholders also believe the Russian technology that will be used is unsafe.

According to the media, German banks have withdrawn financing for the plant because of safety concerns.

In the beginning of April, Bulgaria's state power grid operator NEK said the negotiations with foreign bidders entered a final stage after shortlisting RWE and Belgian Electrabel.

According to unofficial sources, the favourite then was RWE with proposed EUR 400 M immediate investments in the project.

Bulgaria's economy ministry has set mid-2008 as the deadline to pick the strategic investor.

The long-awaited EUR 4 B deal for Belene's construction that will see Russia's state-owned Atomstroyexport design and build the two 1000 MW reactors was sealed at the end of January during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Sofia, more than a year after Bulgaria picked the firm.

Construction on the units is expected to begin in the second half of the year, with 2014 and 2015 as the tentative deadlines for the two reactors to start.

In November last year, Bulgaria's Academy of Sciences released the results of a study that showed the building site of the new Belene nuclear power plant is located in one of the areas of the lowest seismic activity in the country.

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