Free Europe: Serbia very close to nuclear power

Serbia's Directorate for Nuclear Security and Radiation has announced it has participated in an international exercise on 26 October and 27 October in the United Arab Emirates. An accident was simulated in this exercise at the Baraka nuclear power plant.

The exercise was organised by the International Nuclear Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Arab Emirates. Its purpose was to increase the ability to react to a nuclear or radiation accident.

Since 1989 a mortorium for the construction of nuclear power plants has been in force in Serbia.

The decision had followed the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine today that was part of the former Soviet Union.

However, some in Serbia are seeing nuclear energy as a solution under the obligations the country has received for European integration. Europe is making concrete plans for moving to cleaner energy sources by avoiding coal in order to contribute to resolution of climate problems.

Through a statement on 23 October, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, said Serbia is ready to be part of the construction of a nuclear power plant in Pash, Hungary, and that it had already discussed with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

“We are willing to have a small share in order to ensure our energy security”, Vuciq said in Belgrade after a meeting with Serbian presidency member of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik.

Construction of the nuclear power plant in Paksh, Hungary, began in 1969 after three years had signed agreements by Hungary and the then Soviet Union.

Its operation began 13 years later, in 1982 respectively.

The nuclear power plant in Pash currently operates with four 500 megawatt reactors, providing half of the domestic electricity production. An agreement on expanding the nuclear power plant was signed in January 2014 in Novo-Ogarjevo, Russia.

Under the deal, the Russian Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) will build two 1200 megawatt reactors in Pak, worth about 12 billion euros without tender. Much of the project is designed to be financed through a Russian loan worth 10 billion euros at an interest rate of four to five percent for 21 years.

The rest will be financed by Hungary.

The deal has sparked debate in Hungary, a European Union member state, for several reasons, including lack of public discussion on the project and the questionable cost. Concerns have also been on the issue of environmental and security protection.

Project is going too slow. The first shipments were planned for 2023. This deadline moved to 2030. In October of this year, the National Atomic Energy Agency (OAH) rejected a request to license new reactors for security reasons.

Most construction and preparation works have been given to companies with close ties to the Government of Hungary, raising concerns about high-level corruption risks.

Despite EU sanctions against Russia from 2014 due to Russian prosecution of Crime in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban are intensifying co-operation between the two countries. They hold regular meetings each year, and the Russian impact in Hungary has gradually increased.

Among the first to call for the construction of the nuclear power plant was the director of the Public Company “Belgrade Electrics”, Rade Basta.

Through an open letter of October 13th, he called for the removal of the mortorium for the construction of nuclear plants and urged American and European energy funds to invest in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Serbia.

Nuclear “Centralet is a sustainable and reliable source of energy. In European Union member states (BE), there are 106 nuclear reactors offering 104 gigaves of electricity, which is 26 percent of the total electricity produced in the EU”, Basta explained in a written response to Radio Free Europe.

Taking into account that the transition to the production of clean forms of energy, such as those through solar and wind panels, takes a lot of time, perhaps decades, Basta sees the construction of a nuclear power plant in Serbia as a transitional solution.

Basta says the construction of a nuclear power plant requires very complex technology and is a difficult project, and that small countries, such as Serbia, have difficulty accomplishing such a project by themselves.

“in the Balkans is gaining momentum in a new competition of major powers -- this time in the construction of nuclear thermal power plants -- which complicates even more the problems these countries already face, says Basta.

Asked why his invitation was made to American and European companies rather than to those from China and Russia, countries that have increased influence in Serbia in recent years, Basta said this has been done to maintain energy and political balance.

“Russia has a large presence in the energy sector in Serbia, while China is building infrastructure and therefore Serbia's balance in international relations is needed as a neutral and independent country aiming to join EU companies to participate in such a“project, he said.

Serbia is fully dependent on Russian gas and data from the Energy Community, the EU regulatory body, show that with the country's key to the new Turkish Stream pipeline, dependence on Russia has increased.

According to Basta, many European countries depend on Russian gas import and thus, this country controls prices and increases influence.

As far as China is concerned, it points to possible risks of eventual co-operation between Serbia and that country in building a nuclear power plant.

“They (Chineses) have been criticised for such projects either through state companies or through the subsidisation of local companies, credit debts, because they thereby distort free competition and market conditions to meet their goals. Their goals are more of a geostrategic rather than economic character”, Basta explains.

He says the United States (SHBA) has developed a reactor that uses less affluent uranium and, according to him, significantly reduces the risk of use until China and Russia use reactors that operate with much richer uranium.

“Experts say the Chinese and Russian reactors do not contribute to the non-proliferation of weapons, and therefore to world peace”, Basta concludes.

Regarding the invitation for American companies of Belgrade thermal power plant director Radio Europe Free has asked the American Embassy, whose officials have said there has been no concrete talks on possible investment in nuclear power plants so far.

The embassies of China and Russia, until publishing this text, have not answered the questions of Radio Free Europe.

Serbian authorities estimate that since the establishment of the mortorium 25 years ago, much has changed so far.

So it says in a written response to Radio Free Europe from Serbia's Ministry of Mining and Energy.

For now, according to the ministry, there is no interest in foreign states and companies in building the nuclear power plant in Serbia.

The ministry has not accepted any company interest in building nuclear power plants”, said in response.

In addition to legal aspects, this ministry says several other important preconditions, such as professional frameworks and others, must be met.

The main goal of the ministry is to ensure energy security and a stable power supply at stable prices and small impact on the environment”, said in response.

Nuclear thermals use a chemical reaction within the nuclear reactor as a source of energy.

Serbia is largely dependent on coal as a source of energy, according to data from Serbia's Energy Agency.

About 70 percent of the electricity in 2020 has been produced through coal power plants.

With the signing of the Declaration for the Green Age for the Western Balkans in November 2020 in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Government of Serbia took on the full use of coal until 2050.

According to Prague's network network of nongovernmental organisations “Bankwatch” by 2021, total sulfur dioxide emissions from coal power plants in Serbia in 2019 were 5.6 times higher than allowed.