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Bulgaria to fastrack plans to build a new nuclear reactor

The Bulgarian government has decided to add at least one new unit to the Kozloduy nuclear power plant on the banks of the Danube

"'The Ministry of Energy has started a study for the rapid construction of another nuclear reactor, most likely in Kozloduy because this is a ready-made site with an environmental assessment and a working team,' said Deputy Prime Minister Asen Vassilev on Sunday, 13 March.

If the project starts this year, the reactor will begin operating between 2028 and 2030, he predicted. Vassilev explained that Bulgaria could build a second new nuclear reactor to have a total of four operating nuclear power units. Bulgaria has two new unused Russian nuclear reactors, but it is unclear whether it can use them because that means inviting the Russian corporation Rosatom to participate in the project.

Vassilev revealed two weeks ago that Greece is interested in buying electricity from a future new nuclear power plant in Bulgaria."