Russian Companies Actively Participating in Slovak Mochovce NPP Expansion

Slovak Economy Minister said that Russian companies are playing an active role in the expansion of the Mochovce nuclear power plant in southwestern Slovakia.

PRAGUE (Sputnik) – Russian companies are playing an active role in the expansion of the Mochovce nuclear power plant (NPP) in southwestern Slovakia, Slovak Economy Minister Peter Ziga told Sputnik in an interview.

"In December 2016, [Slovak energy company] Slovenske Elektrarne and the Rusatom Service company, which is part of [Russia's] Rosatom state cooperation, signed a treaty on provision of technical support to activities related to the launch of the third and the fourth power units of the Mochovce NPP in the phase of inactive tests," Ziga said.

The minister added that Slovenske Rlektrarne had also a long-term contract with All-Russian Research Institute for Nuclear Power Plants Operation (VNIIAES) that provides the Slovak company with a technical support in the issues related to the NPP engineering.

The construction of the Mochovce NPP started in 1980s. The first two power units of the power plant were commissioned in 1998 and in 1999 respectively. The construction of the third and the fourth power units was suspended in the early 1990s due to lack of funds.

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