17:33 JST, October 3, 2024
BELGRADE (AFP-Jiji) – Time stands still at Serbia’s Vinca nuclear power plant, where the decommissioned Yugoslav-era reactor is a testament to the fears caused by the controversial energy source.
The research reactor and surrounding facility have been stuck in another era for decades. But a new push to revive Serbia’s stalled nuclear power sector could see the country embrace the technology again.
Three years after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986, Yugoslavia halted its nuclear program and closed its only reactor on the outskirts of Belgrade.
Serbia has long relied on its abundant sources of cheap coal to power its economy, even as the skies went black, with the capital Belgrade regularly ranked as one of the most polluted cities during winter.
There are costs involved.
Nearly 70% of Serbia’s electricity comes from coal-fired power stations, which caused an estimated 15,000 deaths due to pollution in 2021 alone, according to a report by the European Environment Agency.
Faced with a 2050 EU deadline for the transition away from coal, officials are now considering whether to lift the long-standing ban on building nuclear power plants in the Balkan country.
In late August, Serbia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy opened public consultations for proposed changes to the country’s energy law, including lifting the moratorium on nuclear power.
Nuclear neighbors
The Vinca facility reminds us of what could have been.
An antique telephone sits next to an emergency button used to manually activate the safety system, amid a sea of โโanalog glass dials that once measured the heartbeat of the reactor and its surroundings.
Visitors to the facility still must adhere to strict controls when entering the reactor hall, which scientists now use mainly for educational purposes.
For proponents of nuclear energy, Serbia is at a crossroads.
โWhen we consider whether to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a nuclear power plant, we must be aware that nuclear power plants surround us,โ Dalibor Arbutina, director of Public Company Nuclear Facilities of Serbia (NFS), told AFP.
Arbutina points to the use of nuclear energy by many of Serbia’s neighbors, including Hungary, which has an active reactor just 80 kilometers from its northern border.
โWe are in the same risk zone as Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, but they benefit from their nuclear power plants, while we get nothing,โ Arbutina added.
But the transition to nuclear energy will be a long and costly process, with a government study suggesting that a conservative estimate for launching a new nuclear facility would likely take up to 20 years.
โIt is a painful transformation that Serbia will have to undergo,โ said Slobodan Bubnjevic of the University of Belgrade’s Institute of Physics.
The process of overturning the ban alone will likely be lengthy and require navigating complex political bureaucracy.
‘For an indefinite period’
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic remains a strong supporter of the transition to nuclear energy and often cites the exponential pressure on the current electricity grid due to the adoption of new technologies.
“Given that the time for artificial intelligence is coming, and bearing in mind that we will have to have 90% to 95% of electric cars here … electricity consumption will increase significantly,” Vucic told AFP, saying he switches to nuclear energy. energy sources would be crucial.
โOtherwise we won’t have enough electricity,โ he argued.
During a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in August, Serbia signed a series of agreements, including a letter of commitment to assess options for developing a civilian nuclear program.
A survey published by Serbian think tank New Third Way shows that a third of people surveyed remain against nuclear power, while about the same number support nuclear power, while the others are largely undecided.
The survey also showed that 64% of respondents agreed that Serbia should phase out the use of coal.
โI would say [nuclear] is a brilliant way to produce electricity and everything else โ as long as it is not misused,โ Rada Spica Gajic, a 47-year-old Belgrade resident, told AFP.
On the other hand, Sava Medan, 60, said he would likely be concerned about dealing with nuclear waste produced by the process.
Prof. Bubnjevic agreed.
โOnce you start the chain reaction and expose the fuel to the process it undergoes in the reactor, from then on you have to manage the nuclear waste indefinitely,โ Bubnjevic said.