Minister quoted as saying Russia will be excluded from bid
The Slovak government is set to approve the development of an additional 1,200 MW nuclear power unit, according to prime minister Robert Fico.*
Speaking at a recent news conference on 14 May, Fico revealed that the government could make a decision on laying the groundwork for the project at a meeting scheduled for 15 May.
“We have an agreement that Slovakia – the state – has an interest in building, under state ownership, one massive nuclear unit with an output of up to 1,200 MW,” he said. He did not say where then new unit would be built.
Economy minister Denisa Sakova was quoted in local press reports as saying that while Slovakia has adopted a more pro-Russian stance under Fico's administration, the supplier for the new nuclear unit would be chosen through a competitive tendering process, explicitly excluding Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom from participation.
Slovakia has five commercial nuclear reactor units – three at Mochovce in southwest Slovakia and two at Bohunice in the west of the country – all of the Russia-designed VVER-440 pressurised water reactor type.
The country’s latest unit, Mochovce-3, completed commissioning at the end of 2023. An identical unit, Mochovce-4, remains under construction.
The fleet has been generating about 59% of the country’s electricity. Mochovce-3 will bring the share of nuclear in the country’s electricity generation to about 65%, putting it second behind only France.
* Media reports said Fico had been shot and wounded on 15 May. The reports said he was shot as he greeted crowds in front of a cultural community centre in the town of Handlova, where a government meeting had been held.He was taken to hospital and his alleged assailant detained by police, the BBC said. It said his injuries were potentially “life threatening”. Handlova is around 180 km northeast of the capital Bratislava.
