Albania and Croatia to Develop 1,500-Megawatt Nuclear Power Plant near Montenegrin Border

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Albania and Croatia plan to sign an agreement by the end of this month to jointly develop a nuclear power plant near Skadar in Albania, close to the border with Montenegro. The plant is estimated to cost $5.3 billion and will be designed to produce 1,500 megawatts of electricity. A working committee comprising five members from each country has been formed to steer the technical implementation of the project. However, the Croatian government has firmly denied its participation in the proposed plant.

Croatia's state-owned power company Hrvatska elektroprivreda (Zagreb, Croatia) is expected to construct the plant, so Croatia will get a significant share of the power generated in the plant. Details on the construction schedule have not been disclosed.

The proposed site of the plant is about 30 kilometers from the Montenegrin coastline, which was badly hit by a devastating earthquake in April 1979. Montenegro is concerned that building such a plant close to the seismic-active region could be very dangerous. In 1995, the country passed regulations prohibiting nuclear construction in the vicinity and has warned Albania of dire consequences if prior permission to build the plant is not obtained. The plant's location has also raised environmental concerns as it is also close to the Skadarsko Lake, off the Adriatic Sea. The presence of a nuclear reactor is likely to increase the temperature of the lake and will consequently destroy plant and animal life in the region.

Albania is reeling under an energy crisis. The country currently does not operate any nuclear plant and most of the power generated in the country comes from hydroelectric plants. Nuclear power is important to meet future domestic demand, as the country currently imports nearly 40% of its annual power consumption.

In an interview with VDI Nachrichten, Germany's largest weekly newspaper, the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna, Austria) said that nearly 50-60 countries are in talks with the United Nations agency to build nuclear plants. One of the prime challenges the agency faces is obtaining assurances from countries that nuclear technology will be used for civilian and not military purposes. The main issue is in monitoring and implementing the international fuel cycle to ensure safe and environmentally secure nuclear operations.

The number of countries planning to construct nuclear plants has nearly doubled in the past four years. Nuclear power is considered inevitable to address energy needs amid growing demand worldwide. It is also a relatively cleaner source of energy that helps in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and in combating climate change.

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