Valentin Nikolov, CEO of the Kozloduy NPP, has said that a seventh unit at the plant could be functional by 2020 or 2022.

In a Monday interview for Nova TV, he suggested that the project for building a seventh unit at the nuclear power plant in Kozloduy had already attracted serious investor interest but he did not disclose details.

He suggested that there was already investor interest in the project but did not disclose details.

"In 20 years' time, when the exploitation deadline of units 5 and 6 expires, it is logical to replace them with units 7 and 8," Nikolov stated, as cited by investor.bg.

The exploitation deadline of unit 5 of the Kozloduy N-plant expires in 2017 and the exploitation deadline of unit 6 expires in 2019.

Several days ago, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov suggested that the life spans of the two Kozloduy NPP units would be extended, allowing Bulgaria to use them by 2030.

The permission to extend the life spans of the Kozloduy NPP is also to be approved by Russia, which built the N-plant.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister suggested that Russian scientists had better throw away their diplomas if they did not permit the extension of the lives of the two Kozloduy NPP units.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament officially requested that Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Slovenia submit a plan and exact dates for the ultimate closure of their nuclear capacities, under a commitment made upon the EU accession of the countries.

The project for Units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy N-plant will also provide jobs for the workers at units 5 and 6 of the plant, who would otherwise have to look for new jobs.

According to reports of investor.bg, the Danube town of Kozloduy has a population of over 13 000, with 4000 to 5000 of them employed at the Kozloduy NPP.

The project for the new capacities at the Kozloduy NPP appeared after the GERB government suspended the Belene NPP project on the grounds that it was economically unfeasible.

A referendum held on Sunday on the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria through the construction of a new power plant attracted low turnout, yet 60.55% voted in favor of the construction of a new NPP in the country (according to preliminary results).

With 97.14% of the votes counted, it emerged early on Monday 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, Novinite reports.