Slovakia's prime minister said Tuesday he wants more than twice as much
European Union cash to fully decommission two Soviet-era nuclear
reactors that were closed after the country joined the bloc.
"We will ask for the already allocated 115 million euros ($143
million) to cover the costs of the decommissioning process to be raised
to at least 300 million euros," Robert Fico told journalists in
Bratislava. "Otherwise we won't continue."
"Right now we can't afford to spend money on decommissioning
two reactors that we didn't want to decommission in the first place,"
Fico explained.
Slovakia, where nuclear energy covers 55 percent of overall
demand, closed two VVER-440/230 reactors near Jaslovske Bohunice,
northeast of Bratislava, in 2006 and 2008 to honor a pledge made before
Slovakia's 2004 E.U. accession.
Fico, who had already criticized the decision to close the
reactors, emphasized that "recent stress tests showed our nuclear plants
are in a good condition."
The dominant Slovak power producer Slovenske Elektrarne (SE),
controlled by Italian energy group Enel,
still operates two units at Jaslavske Bohunice along with two at
another nuclear power plant in Mochovce, western Slovakia.