SOFIA, February 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Bulgaria is a country “which develops nuclear power industry and will remain this type of a country,” Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass on Tuesday. He noted that he calls for further modernization of operating Bulgarian nuclear power plant Kozloduy, but at the same time he doubts that a new nuclear power plant Belene needs to be built.

“I support the development of nuclear power generation at nuclear power plant Kozloduy. I support a program of extending the service lives of the 5th and 6th power units and, if necessary, the construction of the 7th power unit, but as president I strongly doubt that a second nuclear power plant needs to be built, to put it precisely, nuclear power plant Belene,” the president said. “This is a major and costly project that is very hard and risky for Bulgaria,” he noted.

“I do not see any markets for its fulfillment, therefore, I urge the Bulgarian government to focus on what we already have, where all required infrastructure and qualified personnel as well as other capabilities are provided. Instead of a second nuclear power plant I would like to have a national program of energy effectiveness,” the president noted.

“Electric power consumption in Bulgaria is already twice lower than available capacities,” he added. In the words of Plevneliev, Bulgaria has 14,000 MW of energy capacities with slightly more than 5,000 MW used.

“Energy efficiency will help Bulgarian enterprises to become much more competitive and reduce expenses of Bulgarian citizens,” the president noted. “We will not forget that a considerable part of Bulgarian residents live in bearing-wall residential houses, from which heating supplies are fading away. I would like to help millions of Bulgarian families through a national program of energy effectiveness and create another, more comfortable environment for them,” Plevneliev added.