Bulgaria will sign a ¤4 billion (US$5.2 billion) deal with Russia's Atomstroyexport to build two 1,000-megawatt reactors at Bulgaria's second nuclear power plant, AP quoted Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov as saying Tuesday. French nuclear company Areva and Germany's Siemens will participate in the construction. The first unit would be operational in 6.5 years, the national electricity company said. Ovcharov told state television that the contract would be signed on Wednesday. The Russian firm, 49.8 percent controlled by gas giant Gazprom, last month outbid a Czech consortium to build the two reactors at the Danube port of Belene, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
