Slovakia: Environmental Law Broken for Mochovce Power Plant Construction

Slovakia: Environmental Law Broken for Mochovce Power Plant Construction

On 21 August 2013, the Slovakian Supreme Court ruled that the national nuclear regulator had broken domestic law during the Environmental Impact Assessment process by refusing to let Greenpeace Slovakia take part in the licensing process for units 3 and 4 at the Mochovce nuclear power plant. The regulator has said that it will now undertake another round of public consultation, but has allowed construction to continue in the meantime. However, the decision is likely to further delay and therefore increase the cost of completion of the two VVER 440 units. Earlier in August, the Slovak Government already increased the budget by €250 million. As a consequence the cost of completion is now expected to exceed €3.25 billion nearly double the original cost estimate while the date of completion postponed from 2014 to 2015.