Nuclear problem

Bulgaria, hoping to get more than dollars 30m ( pounds 20m) in Western aid to improve nuclear safety, said it would not be able to close its old nuclear reactors before 1996 - the time limit set by donors, Reuter reports from Sofia.

Bulgarian officials are due in London today to negotiate the first instalment of aid with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank has said they have to stop using four reactors at the Soviet-built Kozloduy nuclear power plant by 1996. The station has been hit by a series of fires and leaks in recent years but has undergone extensive repairs.