Croatia, with 10 other countries, is developing new reactors The conclusion which can be drawn from Croatian energetic experts is that if Croatia wants to avoid an energy collapse, it will have to start project planning and construction of a nuclear power plant over the next several years. Implementing a national nuclear program would result in a radical turnaround in national energy politics which currently, in the most part, is blocked by the actions of various ecological associations who are attempting to stop any project for the construction of energetic facilities in Croatia. In ten years or less, the utilization of electrical energy will outweigh the capacity and possibility of supply, therefore Croatia must be included in the new nuclear period along with the rest of Europe. The Executive President of Croatian Electrical Company (HEP) Ivan Mravak stated that the nuclear electric plant in Croatia will be completed by 2020 at the earliest. “In the future, HEP is moving towards the diversification of fuels for electric plants. The current plan, which the Executive Board has devised, is such that its rising needs will be satisfied from classic sources and the country will wait for the nuclear period without any difficulties. Our estimation is that it will occur around 2020. Croatia will not be the first country to go in that direction, but will follow only after a wave of nuclear power plants are constructed throughout Europe; Croatia will then surely enter that area after new types of electric plants with a greater level of security appear and when that is acceptable for Europe,”, Mravak told Nacional. However, for the nuclear power plant to be completed at that time, preparation work must begin much earlier. “Five years are required for preparation and research, and that is about how long it takes to construct the nuclear power plant. That means that in approximately 2010, when four planned electric power plants are completed and only Plomin still needs to be constructed, Croatia can begin considering the nuclear option “, mentioned Mravak. The primary reason that it will consider construction of the nuclear electric plan is to avoid an energy crisis which could result from greater energy utilization by Croatia’s population as well as a decrease in the dependency of imports. Nikola Čavlina, a professor at Zagreb’s Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Computing and one of the most distinguished Croatian experts for nuclear energy says that, looking at the energy situation in the period to 2020, it can be said that nuclear energy is a necessity. “The utilization of energy in Croatia is at the level of Finnish utilization in 1965 and the real growth in utilization is only to emerge. In situations of moderate utilization there is enough energy, but in some situations such as cold winters and winter holidays, the utilization rate grows. In 2013 or 2014, Croatia will no longer be able to satisfy its peak load because it will no longer be able to produce as much as is needed. The situation is similar in the world so Croatia is not an exception. Between 2010 and 2020, the world will have a deficiency of installed force and enter an energy crisis if something does not change”, stated Čavlina. Because Croatia does not have a large source of natural gas, it cannot increase its national potential for hydro energy. Wind is an instable phenomenon, so a nuclear power plant is the only realistic option for energy supply. The obstacle to its construction is the legal Act which bans the construction of coal plants and nuclear power plants. “In our program, prepared by the Executive Board, for the construction of capital projects in the next 10 years, we did not foresee any research or construction of the nuclear electric plants. We stick to the Act of the Croatian Parliament from May 1999, which states that, until 2015, there will be no construction, or research on the possibility of construction of a thermal electric coal plant and nuclear power plant”, pointed out Mravak. If the desire was to begin construction of a nuclear power plant, the first step would have to be a change to the legal Act from 1999. It is already clear that the greatest controversy in the public will be the potential location for construction of a nuclear power plant. “The location for a nuclear power plant is always near a large surface of water for cooling purposes. Looking at Croatia, it is clear that it can only be constructed near the sea or on large rivers. It is not realistic for it to be constructed anywhere near the sea, so that only leaves the Danube or Sava rivers”, says Professor Čavlina. Mravak denies the speculations on specific locations for the construction of the nuclear power plant. “The locations that foreign media mentioned as possible areas for the construction of a nuclear power plant were considered to be acceptable ten years ago. These are locations on the island of Vir, the island in the Danube River near Erdut and the location near Zagreb. After 26 years, they have changed the criteria for locations for the construction of nuclear power plant so much that , at HEP, we know that when we enter a situation where we will consider locations for construction of the nuclear power plant, these locations will no longer be useful. The types and prices for future electric plants is difficult to discuss now, says Mravak, but it is more realistic to wait for the development of new types of reactors and see what they are like in practical use. “Maybe a company which already has nuclear power in its ownership will enter the ownership structure of HEP, so it will create a similar model. The price of the nuclear power plant depends on its power. Because the price is nearly 2000€ per kilowatt of installed power, an electric power plant of 400 megawatts would cost approximately 800 million €.” Čavlina says that there are five basic arguments for the construction of a nuclear power plant. The first is a rise in the demand for electric energy by 2015. The second is that, with it, we can secure a competitive and stabile price for power which is especially important if you take into the account the price of petroleum which fuels thermal electric plants. The price of uranium has also risen, but it comprises a small part of the total expenses of a nuclear power plant. Nuclear plants are more expensive to construct, but there is a smaller price of petroleum. The third argument is the fulfillment of the Kyoto Protocol because nuclear power plants are neutral and do not produce CO2. The fourth reason is a decrease in dependence of imports, and the final is the positive effect on employment and the economy. Its construction takes five years, and is a constant employer for several hundred people; nearly one thousand people will have to work on petroleum changes and annual repairs. The issue which worries most people, and is oftentimes overly expressed in the media, is the danger associated with the nuclear power plant. Čavlina states that all countries which have nuclear power plants do very serious and regular monitoring of the nuclear electric plant. “The exhaust from a normal factory is practically ignorable, but of course, one must question the possibility of an accident. Chernobyl showed that it is of course possible, but one must be aware that there are 450 nuclear power plants in the world. Looking at the entire picture, they do well and it is necessary to do everything in order to lower the possibility of an accident to the least possible measure”. Professor Čavlina points out that this is very complex and demanding technology. “Project planning and preparations last almost as long as the actual construction. In the preparation phase, there are: selections of the location, research work on the location, infrastructure report, environmental impact report, and then we look at financing, creation and publication of the tender, analysis of the offers and selection of the contractor. The life expectancy of a nuclear power plant would be approximately 40 years, but now they work much longer and continue to work well and be competitive.” A problem which is especially highlighted is nuclear waste removal. If Croatia builds its nuclear power plant one day, there are two possibilities for removing the waste. One is the Swedish example, and the other is the French model. In nuclear petroleum, there is one highly radioactive portion. “If the petroleum is refined, then the highly radioactive portion is separated from the less radioactive portion and is stored. The waste is held in a basin and is slowly cooled, and becomes less radioactive. After the petroleum has cooled, the Swedes place it in a storage tank and forget about it. The French refine it and the highly radioactive parts are specially stored. One part of the petroleum is returned in the process and that is how they get better use of uranium”, said Čavlina. Croatia already receives energy from nuclear power plants. Hungary has four nuclear power plants, 100 kilometers from the Hungarian-Croatian border.

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Croatia, with 10 other countries, is developing new reactors
Croatia is one of ten countries which are participating in the development of new nuclear reactors - International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS). Because of Professor Nikola Čavlina and Dr. Davor Grgić who participate in the project, Croatia has found itself among this society along with representatives from Russia, USA, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Great Britain, Spain, and Italy who are participating in the creation of IRIS. Lithuania, along with Croatia, is one small country in that project. The IRIS reactor should have an extended core cycle, meaning that there is a possibility of continuous factory operations without repairs over a period of 4 years, as well as the exclusion of the possibility of a nuclear accident. Its development began in 1999, and the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Computing in Zagreb was included in the IRIS project as a full member and participates in operations with computer models and safety analysis. Because the IRIS reactor project is similar to technology based on water pressure reactors such as the reactor in Krško, the experience gained in the security analysis of NE Krško qualified the university group for cooperation in the IRIS project, which will be completed between 2012 and 2015.