Five Serbian ministries and 20 academic institutions and state energy companies have signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy development. The Ministries included: Mining & Energy; Science, Technological Development & Innovation; Education; Environmental Protection; and Health.
Minister of Mining & Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said after signing that it should “enable the gathering of experts from the country and abroad who will work on examining the possibility of establishing a programme for the peaceful application of nuclear energy in Serbia”.
She added: “The topic of energy supply is a matter of both energy and national security, and that is why it is important to consider all the facts in a professional and committed manner and not to skip a single step on the way, because we have no room for mistakes”, according to the ministry’s press release.
The signing was part of a panel discussion entitled Nuclear energy from the past to the future, which the Ministry labelled as “beginning of the public debate” on using nuclear energy in Serbia. The Ministry in June had called for preparation of a preliminary technical study to consider the peacetime application of nuclear energy in Serbia.
Djedovic Handanovic said this “should provide a comparative analysis of available technologies on the market, show the advantages and disadvantages of possible solutions and the technical, economic and market parameters for the construction of nuclear power plants”.
Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, who attended the event, said: “We are going back to that moment when we gave up something that we shouldn’t have given up, we are going in the direction of a well-developed and organised world”.
President Aleksandar Vučić.in March announced Serbian legislation will be changed in his speech to the International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear energy summit in Brussels. He said Serbia has “three problems”, one of which is a lack of know-how on nuclear energy and the second is money. “Number three … is we will always need to get a change of mindset in our people, which is not easy, but we are ready to do it, which means we will not only adjust but will have to change the overall legislative framework, and we will do it.”
