Populist Slovakia announces a new nuclear energy agreement with the United States

Bratislava, Slovakia (AP) – Slovakian Populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday that his government had approved an agreement with the United States to build an additional nuclear reactor.

Fico announced the agreement of several billion dollars during a speech at an annual nuclear conference in the Slovak capital. He said the new reactor will be built in the existing nuclear power plant in Jaslovské Bohunice in western Slovakia, will have a production of more than 1,000 megawatts and will fully belong to the state.

We did not know when the two governments sign the agreement.

Fico did not give more details, but his government had approved a plan last year for a nuclear unit of 1,200 megawatts on the site where the public service dominating Slovenské Elektrárne (Slovak power plants) currently operates two nuclear units. The cost of the project should reach up to 15 billion euros ($ 17.5 billion).

The government was pregnant with the manufacturer in a public tender, but recently declared that it was negotiating a direct agreement with the American company Westinghouse.

Slovakia depends strongly on nuclear energy and currently generates more than 80% of its electricity in two nuclear power plants.

The Slovak plan reflects a recent nuclear expansion in central and eastern Europe. The neighboring Czech Republic has signed a contract with the Koret Khnp to build two other nuclear reactors. Poland has concluded an agreement with Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant, while the Russian energy giant Rosatom should build two other reactors in Hungary.