Former Energy Minister Traycho Traykov has defined the January 27 referendum on the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria as a “damaged item in democratic packaging.”
“The question was actually do you agree to buy it and throw it out or buy it and then eat it,” Traykov stated in an interview for Nova TV.
He said that it was highly doubtful whether the referendum had brought profits for anybody.
Bulgaria’s former Energy Minister suggested that there were several ways to interpret the results of the referendum.
“Of those who voted “no”, some voted against the Belene NPP, others against nuclear energy in general, still others against Belene NPP but for a seventh unit at the Kozloduy NPP, others against Belene NPP and against 7th unit, but for an extension of the lives of units 5 and 6, so there is a huge risk that you voted for one thing, while your answer is interpreted another way,” he explained.
He claimed that the referendum would still have resulted in nothing even if the question had been stated clearly.
“People told politicians that they are mature enough to understand when they are being sold a fake item,” Traykov pointed out.
Bulgaria’s former Energy Minister said that he had abstained from voting at the referendum.
According to preliminary results of the January 27 referendum on the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria, a total of 60.55% voted in favor of the construction of a new nuclear power plant in the country.
With 97.14% of the votes counted, it emerged that a total of 832 742 people had backed the potential construction of a new nuclear power plant, while 522 927 had voted against.
The referendum was invalidated by low turnout, as merely 21% of the eligible voters cast ballots.
As the turnout is over 20%, and more than half of the votes are positive, the question is to be returned to Parliament for further discussion.
The government says it supports the provision of nuclear power from an existing plant at Kozloduy, but that it does not have the 10bn euros (£6.3bn; $13.4bn) it says would be needed to build a new plant.
Bulgaria had to close four of its old reactors at Kozloduy as a precondition for its 2007 EU membership.
The government froze plans to finish the plant at Belene last year, when work at the site on the southern bank of the River Danube was already well under way.
The Socialists are seen as closely linked to the Belene project, having granted a construction contract for the plant to Russian state company Atomstroyexport in 2008. They say Belene would now cost 4-6bn euros to complete, and would lower electricity costs for consumers.

Source: Sofia News Agency, BBC.