BULGARIA: March 5, 2001

SOFIA - Bulgaria's government said last week it had sacked Georgi Kaschiev, the head of the country's nuclear watchdog for impeding the operations of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

Other reasons included interference in the work of the Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee's (BAEC) inspection for safe usage of atomic energy, the government said in a statement.

The deputy chairman of BAEC Robert Popits was appointed to replace Kaschiev.

In September, environment minister Evdokia Maneva demanded Kaschiev's resignation over what she called wrong information of increased radiation after an incident at a 440-megawatt reactor at Kozloduy.

Maneva said the national system, monitoring the territory of the whole country and the plant's territory, had not shown increased radiation.

Kaschiev stuck to his statement and refused to resign.

In an interview with a local newspaper Kaschiev said after the incident that radiation near the reactor was up 70-80 times above the normal level and two workers had been affected.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE