© iStock/Todor Dinchev
Slowenische Nationalflagge

Slovenia (Status: 22.02.2023)

• In Slovenia, the only nuclear reactor at the Krško site contributes 37% of the country's net electricity generation.

• The operating life of the Krško NPP was extended in January 2023 by 20 years until 2043.

• Nuclear power is to be expanded to meet the country's CO2 targets; in addition to another conventional nuclear power plant unit, small modular reactors (SMRs) are also planned.

Status quo of electricity generation

Electricity generation in Slovenia
Strommix Slowenien

In Slovenia, approx. 37% of the total electricity was generated from nuclear power in 2021 and thus ranks first among the forms of electricity generation, ahead of hydropower and coal.

Produziert wird im KKW Krško, dessen Druckwasserreaktor seit 1981 am Netz ist beziehungsweise seit 1983 kommerziell betrieben wird.

[Wir nutzen die Zahlen der International Energy Agency (IAE), die für Slowenien den Stand 2022 wiedergibt. Tagesaktuelle Erzeugungsdaten nach Energiequelle finden sich auf der Seite Electricity Maps.]

Electricity generation takes place at the Krško NPP, whose pressurised water reactor (PWR) has been connected to the grid since 1981 and has been operated commercially since 1983. It is a Westinghouse 2-loop reactor with an electrical output of 696 MW – the first reactor of Western design in Eastern Europe at that time.

The Krško NPP is owned and operated by Nuklearna Elektrarna Krško (NEK), a joint venture between the Croatian Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group) and the Slovenian GEN Energija, which can be explained by their shared Yugoslavian past. NEK produces and supplies electricity exclusively for the two partners, who each own 50 % of the total output.

Political and legal framework conditions

The reactor in Krško had originally been designed for a lifetime of 40 years, but in mid-2015 it was decided to extend it by 20 years. The environmental impact assessment required for it was successfully completed in January 2023, but the periodic safety review to be carried out every ten years is still ongoing.

GEN Energija submitted an application to the Slovenian Ministry of Economy for a second reactor (JEK 2) at the Krško site already in 2010. This should be seen against the background that Slovenia wants to decarbonise electricity generation by 2030. In the Resolution on the Long-Term Climate Strategy of Slovenia until 2050, published in summer 2021, nuclear power is considered to make a “significant contribution to low-carbon electricity generation” ("prispeva k nizkoogljični proizvodnji električne energije").

Current plans

NPP in Slovenia
KKW in Slowenien

Large NPPs. According to this resolution, a decision on the expansion of nuclear power is to be made by 2027. Shortly after the publication of the resolution, the responsible Ministry of Infrastructure issued a so-called energy permit for JEK 2, which cleared the way for administrative procedures and the preparation of documents for investment decisions.

On the occasion of a visit to the Krško NPP on 28 October 2022, Prime Minister Robert Golob set out a number of preconditions for construction, there was also talk of a possible referendum

SMRs. In addition to a conventional nuclear power plant unit, the construction of several smaller nuclear power plants (“več manjših jedrskih elektrarn”, i.e. SMRs) is also brought into play as an option.

Research reactors

In addition to the commercially operated PWR, Slovenia has a research reactor that has been in operation since 1966. The swimming pool-design reactor of the TRIGA type has a thermal output of 250 kW.

Sources

Country profile “Slovenia” of the World Nuclear Association

Data and statistics “Slovenia” of the IEA

Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) of the IAEA

Research Reactor Database (RRDB) of the IAEA

Resolution on the Long-Term Climate Strategy of Slovenia until 2050 (in Slovenian)