That Serbia plans investments in nuclear energy is a topic that has been discussed in recent months. Now it's from Kine news arrived that Serbia received an offer for the construction of a modular nuclear reactor.
President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić he stated during his visit to China that the Chinese offered Serbia the construction of a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR).
The Chinese, he said, offered a very favorable price, short construction deadlines, as well as training for local personnel.
What exactly the Chinese offer includes has not yet been presented in more detail. Vučić said that this and other offers will still be discussed.
"We received an offer with very favorable prices, short construction deadlines, training and training for our people. We will continue to talk, you know we have an agreement with the French EDF, we also talked with the Russians, who are very successful in this matter. We also received offers from other Asian countries, so we will consider what is best for Serbia, but this was very specific," said Vučić.
Previously, during his visit to China, he spoke with representatives of the Chinese state nuclear company CNNC (China National Nuclear Corporation), one of the largest nuclear operators in the world.
Although the details of the offer have not been released, it is assumed that it is about some of China's Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology, which Beijing has been promoting on the international market in recent years as a potentially cheaper and more flexible alternative to large nuclear power plants. For now, however, it is not known what exact type of reactor it is, what its power would be, under what financial conditions it would be offered, or whether possible locations in Serbia have been discussed.
What about the Chinese?
Miloš Lazarevic, a scientific researcher from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade, told Radio Belgrade that the Chinese offer to put one commercial small reactor online and sell it to countries like Serbia should be taken seriously, but not sensationalistic.
"It should not be rejected just because it comes from China, but neither should it be accepted just because low prices are mentioned. There is no such thing as quick and cheap in nuclear energy. If this jeopardizes safety, the regulatory procedure, staff training, long-term responsibility, my first comment would perhaps be: it is good that Serbia is receiving offers and that nuclear energy is being discussed again, but each offer should be analyzed, so to speak, with a cool head," Lazarević emphasizes.
However, experts warn that small modular reactors, although they have been widely discussed in recent years, are not yet commercially widespread. Therefore, announcements about short deadlines and lower costs require additional verification through technical and economic analyses.
According to Lazarevic, three elements of the Chinese offer - price, construction deadlines and personnel training - are important for Serbia, but it is precisely the education of experts that is key to the long-term development of the nuclear program.
"All of these three things are, generally speaking, important, especially the training of personnel, because Serbia must not enter the nuclear program just as a passive customer, but someone who will actively participate in it. If we ever decide on a nuclear power plant, as a large, conventional, or a small modular reactor, the essence is not just that someone delivers that plant to us. The essence is to build our own competence. That is, the expert public, regulatory bodies, operators, research institutes and educational programs," he explained. is a researcher from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
The French, the Russians and now the Chinese
Serbia, Vučić reminded, already has an agreement with the French EDF, which prepared a preliminary study of the development of the nuclear program.
There are also contacts with Russia. The Serbian ambassador in Moscow, Momčilo Babić, said in September of last year that the Serbian authorities and the Russian state corporation Rosatom have started discussions on the possible construction of a nuclear power plant in Serbia and that certain developments can be expected in the coming years.
The French also prepared a study, parts of which are available to the public.
In the EDF study, three phases of the development of the nuclear program are presented, with an approximate duration and expected activities in each of them.
The first phase, which covers a period of one to three years, focuses on the preparation and assessment of opportunities for the development of nuclear energy. The main objectives include the formation of a national position and long-term strategy, the development of a legislative and regulatory framework, as well as the implementation of preliminary technical studies, which includes the assessment of potential locations and capacities of the national energy network.
Only at the end of the first phase should the Government make a decision whether Serbia will really continue the nuclear path.
The second phase of the nuclear program envisages a period of two to seven years and concerns the detailed assessment of potential sites, the implementation of feasibility studies and the development of a program management structure.
Only the third phase includes the construction and commissioning of nuclear facilities, with an emphasis on compliance with safety and operational standards.
Long-term plans and stories
After almost four decades, in December 2024, Serbia repealed the Law on the Prohibition of the Construction of Nuclear Power Plants, known as the Moratorium.
A few months later, Serbia received the first technical study on the application of nuclear energy for peacetime purposes. The Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović then stated that the state is considering two options - traditional nuclear power plants and small modular reactors, which have been increasingly in focus around the world in recent years.
That Serbia is turning towards nuclear energy was confirmed by Đedović Handanović i during the participation in the Nuclear Summit in Paris in mid-March.
She then said that by 2032, Serbia will choose the technology and begin the construction of the first nuclear power plant, which should be completed around 2040.
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