The Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović, said today that many assumptions need to be fulfilled in order for Serbia to be able to consider nuclear energy for its energy sector. At the panel “Small Modular Reactors”, the online conference “Nuclear Safety Today”, organized for the sixth time by Srbat, she said that Serbia does not have enough knowledge, experience or staff for nuclear power plants.
Speaking about modular reactors, she pointed out that according to information from Great Britain, this technology could be available in 2029 or 2030.
She added that Serbia needs 8-10 years to educate people who could manage such technology, and that education should be started immediately. Đedović reminded that the moratorium on the construction of nuclear power plants in Serbia has been in force for more than 20 years.
She reminded that with the adoption of the Law on Renewable Energy Sources, Serbia unequivocally prioritized decarbonization, with as many RES as possible, and added that it is therefore necessary to have an adequate balancing of the energy network. She assessed that the strategic decision of the state is how to get more basic energy, and that one alternative is gas.
“One of the possible alternatives is nuclear energy. We don’t have enough human resources for it even if we were to start considering this issue,” said Đedović.
Opening the Conference, the Vice-President of the Government of Serbia, Minister of Culture and President of the Board of the Directorate for Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security of Serbia (SRBATOM), Maja Gojković, emphasized the importance of looking at the challenges in this area, exchanging experiences and solutions.
She estimated that the energy crisis and the geopolitical situation brought nuclear energy into the center of world attention, as one of the solutions, but also the biggest source of human fears. She pointed out that the issue of the application of nuclear power plants additionally brings into focus environmental protection and ensuring energy independence.
Gojković said that eight nuclear power plants are operating in the immediate vicinity of Serbia, and that some neighbors are intensively working on new nuclear capacities.
She emphasized the role of SRBATOM, through which radioactivity in Serbia is permanently controlled.
She added that radioactive sources are present in many spheres of life, sometimes irreplaceable, and that if they are not managed in a safe and secure manner, they can cause great damage.
She sought the importance of the conference, where knowledge will be exchanged on this topic of great importance for all of humanity.
