The government starts developing a draft project for the building of block VII of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. The document will lie in the concept for development of atomic energy, argues Mediapool, quoting two independent sources involved in the process. A week earlier the Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev appointed a working group to put down the concept. Its leader was the Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy Galina Tosheva. For the building of block VII in First Atomic Power plant "Kozloduy" first spoke the director of the plant Ivan Genov in January.

There is such an idea, but nothing specific has been developed so far. Priority for the government is the construction of Belene Nuclear Power Plant, claimed by the economic department.

Both options for using the stopped reactors and building block VII are being discussed, confirmed the head of the working group Galina Tosheva for Mediapool. However, she refused to give more details.

Preliminary studies for construction of a new reactor in the Power Plant were made before 7-8 years ago. Recently the idea has become again topical because of the serious increase in prices of electricity, which according to preliminary analyses could be restrained only by nuclear facilities. A seventh block of 1000 MB in the existing plant would cost less than 2 billion euros, calculated the chief of "Kozloduy" Nuclear Power Plant at the beginning of this year. There is present energy infrastructure that would allow for the faster construction of the facility than that in Belene, where has yet to be destroyed a part of the existing site and the actual construction is expected to start at the beginning of 2009. According to familiar, however, the draft project for the new facility in Kozloduy is not likely to happen quickly because at least 2 years will be needed for the announcement of procedures for the selection of technology and implementation.

Intentions are that an investor in the project is Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant itself, whose financial situation allows withdrawing credits for the construction of the new block. It is also possible for the future reactor to be allocated additional funds requested by the European Commission as compensation for the early closure of the two VVER-440 in the end of 2006 as a part of the contract of Bulgaria with EU.