Bulgaria fumes as EU demands nuke reactor shutdowns

KOZLODUY, Bulgaria (Reuters) - At this sprawling nuclear plant in northern Bulgaria, Kiril Nikolov feels he is about to unwillingly betray his nation.

As part of the Balkan state's treaty to join the European Union, he must shut down two of the plant's four functioning reactors on December 31, the day before entry.

It will reduce Bulgaria from the region's leading energy exporter to a country that is merely self-sufficient in power and has sparked an outcry among politicians, media and scientists who say Brussels has tricked the Balkan state into destroying a symbol of national pride.

The EU's executive commission says the Soviet-designed reactors -- characterised last decade as among the most dangerous in the world -- must be shut down for safety reasons.

But Nikolov, Kozloduy's deputy executive director, said upgrades have made the plant safe.

"I feel like I am at a funeral. The units are in perfect condition," he told Reuters from his sparse office in the Soviet-era compound 200 km (124 miles) north of Sofia on the Danube river.

"There is no doubt we will implement the decision but we feel bitter about it."

Kozloduy generates about 40 percent of national energy production and brings in cash from the estimated 7.6 billion kWh in energy it exports every year across the Balkans.

It is also the only major state company from communist times to survive intact Bulgaria's transition to a market economy.

Sofia now sees its agreement to close the units as a mistake, and has warned of blackouts in neighbouring Greece, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, which depend on Kozloduy to make up for their power deficits.

Bulgaria's Socialist-led government says mothballing the two 440 megawatt, VVER reactors will cost some 2.5 billion euros (1.7 billion pounds) in lost revenues -- much more than the 220 million euros allotted by the EU in compensation.

"If the EU thinks in reality about the future, for energy security not only in Bulgaria but in the Balkans, I expect it to find a way to extend the deadline for closing the two units," President Georgi Parvanov told private Darik radio recently.

EU SAYS 'NO'

Bulgaria shut Kozloduy's older first and second reactors at the end of 2002. Two 1,000 megawatt reactors -- blocks five and six -- will stay online at least until next decade.

Kozloduy says the third and fourth units could remain working for five more years but Brussels, which also demanded Lithuania and Slovakia commit to shutting down Soviet-made reactors as a condition to joining the EU, is not budging.

"These first generation nuclear power plants ... are not upgradeable to the safety standards of the EU, and therefore have to be closed," said Ferran Tarradellas Espuny, spokesman for the EU's energy commission.

"It was agreed and they have to do it."

In 1991 Bulgaria temporarily shut the two oldest units amid international concern over fires and leaks after the plant was badly neglected under communism. In 1995, Washington called the plant "the spectre of another accident akin to Chernobyl".

Bulgarian officials, however, citing evaluations by the International Atomic Energy Agency, say upgrades since then have made the blocks much safer. Many experts agree.

"Shutting down the Kozloduy units is a political decision," said Dana Drabova, the Czech chairwoman of the Western European Regulators Association (WENRA), an association seeking a common approach to nuclear safety among EU regulators.

"From a safety point of view ... there is no substantial difference from the family of other European reactors."

HISTORIC FAILURE?

Backed by popular support -- polls show 75 percent of Bulgarians want to keep the blocks open -- Sofia lobbied Brussels until the start of this month for a "flexible approach" to let them to keep the units running.

But the European Parliament rejected the proposal, sparking an outcry in Bulgarian media, which blamed successive governments for failing to protect "national interests".

"The shutdown... is nothing but a historic failure of our foreign policy," said commentator Todor Varchev in daily newspaper Monitor.

Analysts say the country is partly to blame for any problems to come -- such as energy shortages and lost revenue -- as successive governments have dragged their feet dealing with the issue despite years of forewarning.

It has approved new energy deals including a 1.0 billion euro, 670 megawatt coal-fired plant being built by U.S. firm AES and a 4.0 billion euro, 2,000 megawatt nuclear plant at the Danube town of Belene. But, after years of delay, they will come on line in 2009 and 2013 at the earliest.

After taking the units off line, the plant will monitor the radioactive fuel as it cools down, first for three years in the reactors and then another two years in containment tanks.

Most of the 1,360 workers at the two units will stay on for up to 10 years after decommissioning to monitor the process, but many here hope the government can figure out a way to restart the units after EU entry.

"All of us personnel hope the units come on line again, that this is only temporary," said Daniela Georgieva, engineer on duty at block three. "We're optimistic. They are safe."