Polish Prime Minister Warns We Are In "Pre-War Era" Amid Russian Aggression
In a sobering assessment of the current geopolitical landscape, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has sounded the alarm, cautioning that Europe is entering a "pre-war era"
HOT: » Assessing the Legacy of Bulgaria's "Denkov" Cabinet: Achievements, Failures, and What Comes Next
On of the latest WikiLeaks publications sheds light on the reasons for the delay in the project to build a second Nuclear Power Plant in the Danube town of Belene in Bulgaria, the Russian daily Komersant writes.
The cable in question, dated September 2009, was sent from the American Embassy in Sofia. It was released by WikiLeaks and provided to the Bulgarian project for investigative journalism www.bivol.bg, bringing out new details about Bulgaria's energy sector and its dependence on Russia. The text has also been published at the Balkanleaks site, an analogue of the notorious whistle-blowing WikiLeaks.
According to the cable, in 2009, after the new Bulgarian government of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party took office, the American company Westinghouse, with the active support of the US Embassy in Sofia, had worked to push Bulgaria to cancel Russian participation in the NPP project by showing technical inferiorities in the Russian-made reactors, and proposing to Bulgaria to get away from the deal of sending spent nuclear fuel back to Russia.
In her September, 2009, report, Deputy Chief of Mission, Susan Sutton, gives account of a meeting between then newly elected Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and representatives of American energy companies.
At the meeting, the Westinghouse Vice President for Europe, Michael Kirst, has detailed his company's proposal to eliminate Bulgaria's dependence on Russian nuclear fuel by signing a contract with Westinghouse for the purchase of US nuclear fuel.
The Westinghouse representative had also presented a detailed comparison of Westinghouse technology to the reactors Russia plans to build at Belene. He had noted that current plans at Belene will leave Bulgaria with less than state-of-the-art technology (Generation 2) at a considerably higher price than Westinghouse and other western firms are selling Generation 3 technology.
Kirst had further warned that Bulgaria runs the risk of owning a "technology orphan" found only in Russia, Iran, India and China that would bind Bulgaria to Russia for the next 60-80 years, according to Sutton's report.
The full text of the cable read HERE and HERE.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
A remarkable shift in Bulgaria's energy landscape has been unveiled in the latest report from the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, submitted to the Bulgarian parliament
Natural gas prices in Europe experienced a significant spike, surpassing 2% to reach 29 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) on Monday
Amidst Ukraine's urgent need for additional power sources following the closure of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Bulgarian lawmakers have taken a significant step toward bolstering the nation's energy infrastructure by advancing cooperation with the United States for the construction of Units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant
The Bulgarian Parliament has ratified the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the United States on cooperation regarding the construction of nuclear power at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant
During a forum in Alexandroupolis, US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy, Jeffrey Payatt, highlighted the significance of a gas pipeline project through Bulgaria as the next pivotal step for energy development in the region
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022