BRATISLAVA. April 5, (WEBNOVINY) — Economy Minister Juraj Miskov (SaS) is not concerned over the planned stress tests at Slovakia’s nuclear power plants in Jaslovske Bohunice and Mochovce. At the Monday’s meeting with his Austrian partner Reinhold Mitterlehner, Miskov declared Slovakia’s readiness to undergo the safety review of local nuclear plants.
The Slovak minister assured his counterpart that Slovakia is ready to undergo a security review at its power plants any time to convince Austria that the local nuclear industry is safe, the Slovak Economy Ministry reported. Miskov’s colleague is hopeful that the prepared nuclear stress test will upgrade the safety standards in Europe’s nuclear energy sector.
Heads of states and governments of EU member states agreed to keep an eye on and increase safety standards at European nuclear plants in late March. The European Commission (EC) is preparing to stress test nuclear plants in the 27-nation bloc by the year’s end. The Slovak Republic has hailed the pledge to ensure the highest safety standards at nuclear plants. The country has also greeted the EC’s participation in the process, along with independent authorities, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova commented after the respective EU summit.
The prime minister added that a report is to be compiled after the stress tests have been assessed. The material would cover the extent to which existing security systems observe and meet the top safety standards. European institutions’ experts would come to Slovakia in April, the prime minister announced. The output and information of the safety of nuclear plants should be available to the public.
The accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan has triggered a debate about safety standards at Europe’s nuclear power plants. Germany’s response to the Japanese nuclear crisis was the most radical. The country has temporarily taken the oldest reactors offline. The accident strengthened Austria’s efforts to limit power production at nuclear plants. Italy, too, has put its plans for construction of new nuclear plants on hold.
SITA