Natalia Kiselova supports the development of nuclear energy in our country. And not only at the Kozloduy NPP site

I support the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria, not only for new units at the Kozloduy NPP site. This was stated by the Speaker of Parliament Natalia Kiselova to journalists in Kozloduy. According to her, if the state has the capabilities and resources, then a second nuclear power plant can be considered, BTA reported.

According to Kiselova, we must work purposefully to preserve the personnel in nuclear energy, as well as to create new ones.

According to her, the reason for her visit to the Kozloduy NPP is to get acquainted on site with how the plant operates. "You know that one of the priorities that was brought out in the joint management agreement is precisely the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria," she said. According to her, she was impressed by the safety control and the dedication of the employees in ensuring uninterrupted electricity production.

Kiselova also commented on the lack of personnel in the sector. "There is little talk about the problem, but in my other role as a lecturer at Sofia University, I can say that the university's efforts are to have such specialists. The truth is that there are very few people willing to study nuclear physics. At the plant, we were informed by the executive director that they conduct various internships and mentoring programs in order to be able to renew personnel in the energy sector," the Speaker of the National Assembly told journalists.

When asked by BTA whether the activities are being implemented on schedule, according to the plan adopted by parliament at the end of December 2023 for the construction of units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy NPP, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary energy committee Andrey Valchev said that he hopes that with decisions by parliament by the end of this year, the process should become irreversible. "Bulgaria will develop its own nuclear energy and all doubts on the subject must be dispelled," Valchev said.

Bulgaria has already abandoned the Belene NPP, after signing an agreement with Ukraine to provide it with the equipment.

At the same time, Belene was a project that the party from which Kiselova was elected - the Bulgarian Socialist Party - had always insisted on and put forward as a priority.

"The state budget should be adopted by March 10," Kiselova also said during her visit to the Danube city.

"The Minister of Finance has committed to submitting the draft budget to parliament by mid-February," Kiselova added. "We must comply with the Law on the Collection of Revenues and the Execution of Expenditures in 2025, which is valid until the end of March," she added. Kiselova commented that she expects the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works to review the current documentation of the submitted municipal projects and to work on their financing as a priority.