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Bulgaria's Environment Ministry OKs EIA report on unit 7 of Kozloduy NPP

Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment and Water has approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on the investment proposal to build a new nuclear capacity on the site of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, thereby giving the green light to the construction of a seventh unit of the Kozloduy-based N-plant.

The positive statement on the EIA report was received by the project company NPP Kozloduy – New Capacity EAD on Thursday.

"The report on the quality of the EIA report is a very important stage of the procedure for evaluating the environmental impact of the investment proposal and the positive statement is a confirmation by the competent body, the Ministry of Environment and Water, that the document matches all requirements and criteria stipulated in the national environmental legislation," the project company says in a media statement, as cited by investor.bg.

The EIA report on the investment proposal is to be made public.

In line with the requirements of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, the EIA report will be sent to Romania and Austria, two countries participating in the transboundary EIA procedure of the investment proposal.

In August 2013, the Kozloduy NPP received permission to look for a site for Unit 7.

The permit of Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulatory Agency is general – for an N-plant which may have one or more units.

In the spring of 2012, Bulgaria's center-right GERB government agreed to build new nuclear capacity at the Kozloduy NPP.

Then-Prime Minister Boyko Borisov commented that a seventh unit of the Kozloduy NPP would be cheaper than the construction of a new N-plant near Belene.

The government argued that the equipment prepared for the Belene NPP could be used for the seventh unit of the Kozloduy NPP.

Adapted from Novinite