Nuclear power in Europe

Bulgaria's Cabinet plans to inject 300 million leva into the National Electric Company (NEK) to cover the costs of the transitional stage of building the nuclear power plant at Belene on the Danube River, the Government press service said in a statement.

The cash would be given as an equity hike in NEK, which is now part of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) that the Cabinet created in September 2009 by integrating Maritza Iztok mines, Maritza Iztok 2 thermal power plant and NEK into the holding structure of gas provider Bulgargaz.

Russia and Belarus will both have nuclear power plants close to Lithuania by the time Ignalina nuclear power plant has a replacement, The Baltic Times quotes the president of the Lithuanian Industrialists’ Confederation and the majority owner of Achema Group, Bronislavas Lubys.

Lubys said that he is certain that before Lithuania builds its planned new nuclear power plant, Russia and Belarus will construct two new atomic power stations in the region.

VILNIUS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Lithuania said on Monday it will choose reactors for a new nuclear power plant from four suppliers, including French Areva and U.S. General Electric, but excluding Russian companies.

Lithuania aims to build a new nuclear power plant by 2016-2020 in cooperation with neighbouring Latvia, Estonia and Poland, with a tender to supply reactors to be launched in 2010.

Finland’s plans to build the world’s first next-generation pressurised water reactor has hit a rough patch as the initial estimated price tag has now doubled to nearly 4.5 billion euro. Areva, the French nuclear construction company building the power plant, announced that the final costs for the reactor will be 50 percent higher than originally estimated, according to Les Echos, a business newspaper.