Djedovic Handanovic: At least decade needs to pass before Serbia gets nuclear plant

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Friday the opening of a public debate on amendments to the Energy Law that propose lifting a ban on nuclear power plants could not be associated with a recent visit to Serbia by French President Emmanuel Macron.

In an interview with Blic, Djedovic Handanovic said experience showed that "at least ten years need to pass" between initial considerations and the launch of a country's first nuclear power plant.

Asked about Serbia's sudden U-turn on nuclear power plants, she said there was increasingly frequent talk in the international community about a "nuclear renaissance" and that countries like Italy, Belgium and Switzerland had recently made radical shifts in their energy policies in favour of nuclear power.

"That power has been in use worldwide for over 60 years, and over 440 nuclear reactors are operating today in more than 30 countries. Around 10 pct of the world's nuclear power is produced by nuclear power plants and in the EU, the amount is over 20 pct. Serbia is surrounded by countries that have nuclear power plants, such as Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, and some of the countries also have plans to build new ones," Djedovic Handanovic said.

In Europe, there is a plan to boost nuclear power generation capacities by about 50 pct by 2050, she added.

She said an amended energy law was due to be adopted by the Serbian parliament by the end of this year.

Commenting on allegations that cooperation with France was conditional on disposal of French nuclear waste in Serbia, the minister said that was clearly not possible under local legislation, EU directives and UN conventions.