A referendum on building a new
nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
was held in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
on 27 January 2013.
[Q&A: Bulgaria's nuclear energy referendum]
BBC News, 25 January 2013 Whilst it was not explicitly mentioned in the question, it was widely acknowledged that the referendum was about restarting construction at the
Belene Nuclear Power Plant
The Belene Nuclear Power Plant ( bg, Атомна електроцентрала „Белене“) is a planned nuclear power plant 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, near the Danube River. ...
.
Although the proposal was approved in all 31 electoral divisions, turnout did not pass the required 60% threshold, resulting in the referendum becoming non-binding.
[In historic vote, Bulgarian voters back new nuclear plant]
EurActiv
Background
Construction on the Belene Nuclear Power Plant began in the 1980s, but was later frozen. The Bulgarian government was also forced to close four nuclear reactors as a condition of joining the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
in 2007. In 2008 the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
government approved a contract for restarting construction. However, in March 2012 the
GERB
GERB ( bg, ГЕРБ, translation=coat of arms, acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) is a conservative, populist political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria between 2009 and 2021.
History
GERB is headed by for ...
-led government scrapped plans to continue building the plant, claiming that it could not afford to invest a further €10 billion, after €1 billion had already been spent on the project, and that the electricity produced would be too expensive.
[ According to some analysts however, electricity produced by Belene would be cheaper than current sources.
The Socialist Party claimed that it would only cost between €4 and €6 billion. They started a petition, and collected over 500,000 signatures, enough to force a referendum.][ Although the petition called for a referendum on the future of the Belene NPP project, the word "Belene" was subsequently removed from the question on insistence by the ruling GERB party.][
]
Electoral system
The referendum requires a turnout of at least 60% for the referendum to be valid.[ Voters were asked the question "Should nuclear energy be developed in Bulgaria through construction of a new nuclear power plant?"
]
Campaign
Supporters of the plant argued that it would mean the country would not have to buy electricity from Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, whilst opponents have claimed that it would increase the country's energy dependence on Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,[ as the Russian firm ]Atomstroyexport
Atomstroyexport (russian: Атомстройэкспорт) is the Russian Federation's nuclear power equipment and service exporter. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Rosatom. The activities of Atomstroyexport are financially supported by the Russ ...
had been contracted to build the plant.Bulgaria nuclear vote 'invalidated by low turnout'
BBC News, 27 January 2013
Results
See also
*Nuclear power in Bulgaria
Bulgaria's first commercial nuclear reactor began operation in 1974. The Kozloduy NPP operates two pressurized water reactors with a total output of 1906 MW. This makes Bulgaria the 21st-largest user of nuclear power in the world. Construction o ...
References
{{Bulgarian elections
Referendums in Bulgaria
2013 in Bulgaria
2013 referendums
Nuclear power in Bulgaria
Nuclear power referendums
January 2013 events in Europe