Restarting the second block of the V1 nuclear power plant in Jaslovské Bohunice does not necessarily have to be done. After a meeting of the crisis-management group on Monday, January 12, Prime Minister Robert Fico said that its reactivation would depend on results of today's talks of EU energy ministers in Brussels. "If we do not see realistic progress in renewing the supplies of gas, Economy Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek will issue an order a relaunch of the second block of V1," said Fico as quoted by newswire SITA. He said that the relaunch by Jadrová Vyraďovacia Spolčcnosť (JAVYS) should not take more than three or four days.
The Slovak Cabinet approved the reactivation of the second unit of this power plant at its emergency meeting on the evening of January 10. Subsequently, JAVYS started preliminary work to prepare the facility for operations. Jahnátek insisted that the second unit of the V1 nuclear power plant had to be reactivated in order to stabilize Slovakia’s power grid. Slovakia had shut down the second unit of V1 on December 31, 2008, as it had pledged to do when it joined the EU.
The European Commission does not agree with the re-start of the V1 power plant, which would be a violation of the EU rules, a spokesman for the EC said on January 12, SITA wrote.
