The Kozlodui Nuclear Power Plant has been forced to give away, rent or even sell some of its property, because of huge losses, the plant's executive director Yordan Yordanov told a press conference on Friday. According to Yordanov, they have to give away the hospital that is still under construction to the Kozlodui Municipality, because one million leva is needed for finishing it and another two million leva for equipment.

The plant will sell or rent a large number of hotels, restaurants, shops, and other assets, including some 1,300 apartments, because of losses incurred, said Yordanov. Kozlodui is also negotiating with companies that may ensure electricity exports as a way of covering the costs of transportation of spent nuclear fuel to Russia, said the plant's business manager, Tencho Popov, on Friday.

"The proceeds from the export of a mere 1,000kWh of electricity can cover the transportation and processing of reactor fuel," Popov said. "Recently, the plant utilizes less than 60 per cent of its capacity and generates 18,000 million kWh of electricity a year. If it operates at full capacity, the plant can generate 22,000 million kWh," Yordanov added.

By 2003, the plant will have filled up all spent fuel storage areas. "This problem is becoming a major cause for concern to us. Unless it is solved by 2003, we will shut down the plant ourselves," Yordanov said.

Temporarily storing reactor fuel on location will prove commercially unviable in the long run because the site will become highly radioactive and dangerous, said representatives of the nuclear power plant.

The management wants to export the entire amount of radioactive material and negotiations are underway to pay the Russians, who process the fuel, to take it away. "We are negotiating with both BNSL and Kozhema. The Russians have offered us very attractive terms of spent fuel storage and processing. We believe it should go where it came from in the first place - Russia," Yordanov admitted.

A decision on spent fuel transportation will be made at a September 12 meeting of the consultative council on the fuel cycle.

A decision on the early decommissioning of nuclear units three and four of the Kozlodui plant may create prerequisites for a rise in electricity prices because in 2005-06 the plant will start servicing a loan for the upgrading of units five and six.

The decommissioning of the first two units begins on December 31, 2002.