The European Commission confirmed that talks are being held at a working level but insisted that amounts had not yet been discussed. The EU has allocated €550m to the decommissioning of the four units, Minister Dimitrov said, according to the Focus agency, of which €350m has already been absorbed.
"We have never been against the prolongation of the support scheme (for decommissioning the Kozloduy NPP units)," Commission spokesperson Ferran Tarradellas told EurActiv. But he added that such prolongations would need justifiying after 2009.
Bulgarian officials often use the term "compensation" regarding the early closure under EU pressure of the nuclear units. However the European Commission prefers to consider the amounts as financial assistance for the decommissioning process rather than compensation.
Before shutting down Kozloduy NPP units three and four, Bulgaria was an important exporter of electric power in the region. Now Bulgaria has lost this strategic position. As a result the Balkan region is experiencing a power deficit, especially in Albania. Bulgarian officials have repeatedly said the country has lost many billions of euros due to the early closure of its nuclear units.
Bulgaria is planning to build a new nuclear power plant in conformity with Western standards, on the Danube island of Belene, but the project will take several years to become operational. The power shortage in the Balkan region has inspired some politicians and the nuclear lobby in Bulgaria to campaign to re-launch units three and four. Recent opinion polls show that many Bulgarians are in favour of re-starting units three and four of Kozloduy NPP. However the European Commission has made it plain that the conditions have not changed since the signature of the Accession Treaty.
The decommissioning of nuclear power plants is a substantial global concern as well as an EU one. The Commission estimates that around a third of the EU's 145 currently operational nuclear reactors will need to be decommissioned by 2025. Wide variations exist in the decommissioning strategies and funding methods of different EU countries.
In a recent communication to the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission expresses concern that in some countries plant operators are providing insufficient funding for decommissioning. The Commission says this runs counter to the 'polluter pays' principle and could amount to market-distorting state aid.
There are also concerns regarding the level of independent oversight for funds in several member states, which the Commission says could give rise to inaccurate cost estimates and the poor financial performance of funds.
The Commission concludes that "these concerns could be better addressed by independent oversight of the decommissioning funds" rather than further EU or national legislation. But it adds that harmonised EU decommissioning strategies for future nuclear constructions should be "rigorously pursued".
