Ljubljana - The government has proposed for the payments into the fund for the decommissioning of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) and rad waste disposal to be increased from 4.80 to 12 euro per megawatt hour of power.

The payments are made by Gen Energija, the state-owned company that holds Slovenia's stake in NEK, located in Krško on the border with Croatia. Slovenia and Croatia each hold 50% of the plant.

The government proposes for the payments made by Gen Energija to increase to 1.2 cents per kilowatt hour of power it gets from NEK next year because current payments would not suffice for all of the fund's activities.

Given the power generated by NEK last year, Gen Energija is to pay about EUR 35.7 million annually into the fund from 1 January 2022.

Considering the company's net profit for this year is estimated at over EUR 73 million and the wholesale price of power going up by 200% this year, "the planned rise in the contribution is not to have any substantial impact on Gen Energija earnings", reads the proposal.

The respective Slovenian-Croatian commission in July endorsed the third revision of the programmes for NEK decommissioning and radioactive waste disposal, under which the current payments into the fund will not suffice for the activities therein.

Under the programmes the total cost of rad waste disposal and decommissioning for Slovenia is to amount to EUR 1.16 billion. Considering the funds already invested in the planned depository of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste in Vrbina near Krško, Slovenia will have to secure an additional EUR 1.09 billion.

The bilateral agreement provides that the countries share responsibility for NEK's decommissioning, and depository of rad waste and spend fuel from the plant.

To finance Slovenia's share of responsibility the National Assembly passed a law in 1994 setting up the fund for NEK's decommissioning. Croatia passed a similar law in 2007.