Slovenia: JEK2 project moving on with siting and feasibility studies

Site analysis reports, especially on the risks of flood and seismic activity, and technical feasibility studies are being carried out in Slovenia for the JEK2 project. The project aims to build a new one or two-unit nuclear power plant near the existing one at Krško, which generates about one-third of the country’s electricity. The Krško plant is operated by Nuklearna Elektrarna Krško, which is jointly owned by Croatia’s Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group) and Slovenia’s GEN Energija. The latter company submitted in October its proposal for the preparation of the national spatial plan for the new nuclear facility to the Environment, Climate, and Energy Ministry. It hopes that a decision will be taken by the end of this year. In the meantime, the JEK2 project team held discussions with potential nuclear power plant providers EDF, Westinghouse, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). However, KHNP withdrew from discussions in January due to changes in its business strategy. It is possible that the withdrawal was also influenced by the high cost of the project, with an estimated expense on the reactors ranging from €9.314 billion for a 1000 MW unit to €15.371 billion for a 1650 MW unit.
There should have been a referendum on the new nuclear plant in November, but it was called off amid a political row over its procedures. The Slovenian government remains committed to holding it before a final decision is taken, which is expected to be in 2028.