Slovenia selects company for seismic assessment of Krško nuclear plant

US company Rizzo International has been picked to perform an earthquake risk assessment for Slovenia's nuclear power plant in Krško and the planned second reactor.

The analysis is to be completed in 15 months at the cost of €2.1 million before VAT, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

According to a post on the public procurement portal, the state-run company operating the power station Gen Energija had estimated the earthquake risk assessment would cost €1 million before VAT.

The contract with Rizzo International, headquartered in Pittsburgh, US, was signed on 15 December for €2.098 million before VAT.

In the first round of negotiations, Rizzo offered to make the risk assessment for €2.58 million before VAT, while the final bidding price was accepted in the second round, the business portal Finance has reported.

According to Finance, the Geological Survey of Slovenia and the Slovenian surveying company Geološke Ekspertize are among the subcontractors.

The earthquake risk assessment is part of the paperwork needed for the preparation of the Krško 2 project, for which the final investment decision is expected to be taken in 2028.

Two potential suppliers

The initiative to prepare a national spatial plan for Krško 2 was in public consultation in autumn. Danijel Levičar, state secretary for the national nuclear programme, said last week that they were still analysing the comments received and that a decision on the preparation of the spatial plan could be adopted in mid-January.

Potential suppliers for nuclear reactor technology if Slovenia decides to build unit 2 at Krško are the French energy giant EDF and Westinghouse Electric Company of the US, which built the existing reactor at Krško. The cost of the project has been estimated at between €9.3 billion and €15.4 billion.

TV Slovenija recently reported that Slovenia was considering signing an agreement with the US to facilitate cooperation on the project, but the office of PM Robert Golob has said the government will not sign such an agreement this term.

"The government will not sign any document in this term that would restrict competition in any way. Nor does the government plan to discuss an intergovernmental agreement with the US," the prime minister's office said earlier this week.

The public broadcaster disclosed a draft of the agreement, which it said had started to emerge during the previous government. It reported the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy has found the draft unacceptable because it could be understood as being preferential to one supplier, which would go against national and EU public procurement rules.

Slovenia signed a memorandum on cooperation in nuclear energy with France during President Emmanuel Macron's visit to the country in October. It signed a similar memorandum of understanding concerning strategic civil nuclear cooperation with the US in 2020, but such a document does not carry the same legal weight as an intergovernmental agreement.

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Photo: GEN Energija