Bulgaria's Belene NPP to Endure Apocalyptic Tornado - Rosatom

Rosatom official Kiril Komarov /R/ and company spokesman Sergey Novikov /L/ during a press conference in Sofia, Bulgaria March 16 2011. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Belene Nuclear Power Plant is supposed to endure a once-in-a-100 000 years tornado, Kiril Komarov, a representative of the Russian Rosatom company stated in Bulgaria.

According to Komarov, as much as 40% of the total cost for the power plant will account for the implementation of security systems, including such that prevent the active zone's melting. Passive safety systems have been introduced only after the Chernobyl disaster, therefore they are absent in older plants such as Fukushima Daiichi, he pointed out.

"We will fulfill whatever requirements the Bulgarian National Electrical Company has for us. We too wish for a safe nuclear power plant during the next 60 years to come, we too wish to invest in it," the Russian representative declared.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria's Energy and Economy Ministry declared it did not accept the Russian offer of EUR 6.3 B for the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant by Rosatom's subsidiary Atomstroyexport, Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov declared.

Traikov responded briefly to statements made in Sofia earlier on Wednesday by senior Rosatom and Atomstroyexport executives that EUR 6.3 B is the final price demanded by the Russian side for the Belene NPP, and that Rosatom will consider the project practically dead if the respective state companies do not sign a new agreement by the end of March.

On Tuesday EU Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger declared that Bulgaria's project to build a second nuclear power plant, the Belene NPP, must be re-examined over safety concerns.