Slovakia to discuss new power plant with South Korea, France and US, Fico says

Bratislava, 27 September (CTK correspondent) – Slovakia wants to discuss with South Korea, France and the United States their involvement in the planned construction of a new Slovak nuclear power plant. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told journalists today ahead of his upcoming trip to Korea. His government approved plans this spring to build a new nuclear power plant. In the summer, the Czech government decided that new nuclear units at Dukovany would be built by South Korean company KHNP.

Fico’s remarks indicated that Slovakia does not intend to cooperate with Russia on building the new nuclear facility. Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia following its 2022 military invasion of Ukraine. Slovakia’s existing nuclear power plants, which account for the largest share of the country’s electricity generation, are based on Russian technology.

Fico said Slovakia was following developments concerning the planned project to build two new nuclear reactors at Dukovany and wanted to avoid problems. Under a decision by the Czech government, the units at Dukovany will be built by South Korea, but French company EDF and US company Westinghouse, which were also interested in the contract, have challenged the tender before the Office for the Protection of Competition.

„We have the site ready, and we have a building permit,“ Fico said.

He added that the Slovak authorities also had a decision on the environmental assessment of the new power plant project. He indicated that the state would not finance the project itself, but would rely on external sources of funding.

In May this year, the Slovak government approved plans to build a new nuclear facility with a capacity of up to 1200 megawatts in Jaslovské Bohunice, in the west of the country. Slovakia shut down two units at the older V1 nuclear power plant there in 2006 and 2008 to meet its commitments to the EU. The country’s largest electricity producer, Slovenské elektrárne (SE), also operates its own nuclear power plant there. SE also operates the Mochovce nuclear power plant elsewhere in Slovakia, where the company is working to complete the fourth unit.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková said the country’s electricity consumption was likely to rise significantly by 2050. A final decision on building the new nuclear facility is expected to be made by the current government, whose term is due to end as scheduled in 2027.