The only nuclear power plant in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan was declared bankrupt Thursday by a court after accumulating unbearable debts. The Mangyishlak plant in western Kazakhstan was driven into the red because of reduced demand for energy and low prices enforced by local anti-monopoly authorities there, said Valikhan Asambayev, who was appointed to bring the plant back to profitability. The plant has been struggling in recent years and in February 1999 was ordered to restructure, having accumulated a debt of 3.3 billion tenge (US$21.3 million at today\'s rates). The deadline for the plant to return to profitability was extended last September to Feb. 2, but it has been unable to repay even that initial debt, while accumulating more financial burdens. On Thursday, a regional court declared the plant bankrupt and ordered it to be auctioned off. To operate the plant, a potential buyer must have a license to handle radioactive materials in Kazakhstan and have been working in the sector for at least five years. That leaves only two possible suitors, national energy company Kazatomprom or the National Atomic Center. The latter lacks the money to buy the plant, leaving the likely buyer as Kazatomprom. (AP)