BULGARIA is poised to build the first Russian-designed nuclear power plant in the European Union.

However, the site was rejected in the 1980s because it was prone to earthquakes.

The proposed site, at Belene, is near an active fault, according to Gueorgui Kastchiev, the former head of Bulgaria's nuclear plant at Kozloduy - where four of the six Russian reactors have been deemed unsafe and shut down.

Last week, Kastchiev argued that the site was rejected in the 1980s by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Soviet experts. In 1977, an earthquake killed 120 people in a village 15 kilometres away. Also, Kastchiev says, the design is untested, and Bulgaria has a poor safety culture.

Bulgaria's National Electricity Company denies that the region is prone to serious earthquakes.

In the next few weeks, a European Commission panel is expected to issue a favourable report on the proposed nuclear plant, which would help the country win much-needed construction loans.

Wait, let me cut and paste that first sentence again...."However, the site was rejected in the 1980s because it was prone to earthquakes."!?!?!?
Little trip down memory lane .. Chernobyl...
And a random pic showing what happens when nuclear goes nuclear....


From Here.