Preparatory work should start in the autumn on a project to build a new nuclear facility in Slovakia. According to the Economy Ministry's draft ‘Possibilities for Securing the Construction of a New Nuclear Power Source in Jaslovské Bohunice,’ JAVYS (the state-run enterprise which manages and decommissions nuclear power plants), in cooperation with the Economy Ministry, should start working on a feasibility study this October. At the same time, the documents required for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study should be prepared. The government plans to make a decision about construction of the new nuclear facility by the end of this year, the SITA newswire wrote.
The cost of preparatory works is projected to be Sk7.5 billion. Of this, initial costs for project works, amounting to Sk4 billion, represent the biggest portion. Personnel costs are forecast to come to Sk1.7 billion. The feasibility study is to cost Sk250 million and documentation for an EIA Sk350 million. Financing of the preparatory works this year should be covered by JAVYS's budget.
According to the Economy Ministry's estimates, the new nuclear power plant will cost Sk100 billion. It is not yet clear how construction will be financed. The Finance Ministry is considering three options. The ministry favours the power plant's construction by the state-run JAVYS alone. According to the draft, the second alternative would be the cooperation of a a strategic investor in a JAVYS-led project, with the state retaining control. The third proposal is construction of the plant without the state's participation.
The new nuclear power plant should have an output of 600 to 1,750 megawatts (MW). The most probable location for it is the site of the closed V1 nuclear plant in Jaslovske Bohunice. The ministry's draft also considers localities in Mochovce, and in Kecerovce near Košice. The whole construction process should take twelve years, with preparatory works lasting seven years and construction of the new plant itself taking five years. “The final decision on the size and type of the new nuclear source may be defined after completion of the feasibility study," the Economy Ministry writes in the draft. The ministry claims that unless a new nuclear power plant is built in Slovakia, by 2030, Slovakia will have an annual power generating deficit of 6,000 MW. SITA
b>Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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