Bratislava - Slovakia scrapped plans to restart its Soviet- era nuclear reactor in Jaslovske Bohunice as Russia renewed gas supplies via Ukraine and the power grid was stable, an official said Friday. Slovakia abandoned its intention to restart the unit on the day when the Bulgarian parliament asked government to probe options for restarting Bulgaria's nuclear reactors that were closed as a requirement for entering the EU.
The reactor at Jaslovske Bohunice was shut down on December 31 as a condition for Slovakia's membership to the EU.
"We stated that the reasons ... for restarting (the reactor) are over. That means that the crisis team passed a resolution that (the reactor) in Jaslovske Bohunice will not be launched," Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek told a news conference, televised on the TA3 news channel.
The Slovak government gave the green light to restart the reactor on January 10 at the onset of a two-week shutdown of Europe-bound Russian gas supplies via Ukraine.
The decision came amid concern that the cut-off could trigger a blackout in the central European country of 5.4 million, which fully relies on Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine and generates part of its electricity from gas.
The decision to fire the reactor angered neighbouring Austria, which opposes nuclear power. The European Commission said the move would violate Slovakia's EU accession deal but hesitated to threaten the country with sanctions.
"We thanked the European Commission for backing us at the time when we were doing the worst and virtually gave us a silent consent to launch (the unit)," Jahnatek said.
Slovakia supports a revival of nuclear power in Europe. Prime Minister Robert Fico has repeatedly slammed his predecessors for agreeing to shut down the Jaslovske Bohunice power plant in exchange for entry into the EU.
