CORRECTED-Bulgaria set to abandon Belene nuclear project

(Corrects to clarify Washington urged Bulgaria to diverify its energy sources in February, not Thursday.)

SOFIA, March 16 (Reuters) - Bulgaria is set to abandon its plans to build a new, 2000 megawatt nuclear power plant on the Danube River for which it has contracted Russian state firm Atomstroyexport, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on Friday.

Borisov told state national BNT channel that he had sent ministers to Moscow last month to tell Russian officials that Sofia will not build Belene but plans to pay for one 1,000 megawatt nuclear reactor that has already been built.

He said the European Union member will try to install it at its operational 2,000 megawatt Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

The centre-right government has been delaying its decision on Belene since coming to power in July of 2009, as it tries to secure western European investor for the project and clinch a better price for the plant, estimated to cost over 8 billion euros.

Borisov said that a final decision on the fate of the controversial Belene project had yet to be taken as the Balkan country has already spent 1.4 billion levs ($935 million) on the project.

"Such a decision can be taken only after a wide public debate. I will seek whether we can call a referendum on Belene," Borisov said.

The cabinet has already abandon a trans-Balkan oil pipeline project aimed ar taking Russian crude through its territory to Greece, saying it was not economically viable.

The United States urged Bulgaria in February to work harder to diversify its energy sources to put an end to its energy dependence on Russia.

Bulgaria's westent allies in Brussels and Washington have long expressed concerns that a new Russian-made nuclear plant will cement Bulgaria's dependence on Russia.

($1=1.498 levs) (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova, editing by William Hardy

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