According to Rožman, the NEK team will continue to run tests at various levels of power until the plant reaches full power again.

During the overhaul, which was scheduled to take 40 days but was prolonged due to some extra work on the reactor vessel, a 1500-strong team performed regular maintenance works as well as replaced the reactor head and the rotor of the main generator.

A third back-up diesel generator was also installed.

Rožman explained that the updates were necessary in order to allow NEK to continue working until 2043. This will however be decided by the nuclear safety authorities, which are expected to reach a decision by the end of this year, he explained.

Since its last scheduled maintenance in November 2010 Krško has generated 8.5 million megawatt hours of electricity, slightly below plans.

Krško, jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia, is the most important power plant in Slovenia, meeting about a third of Slovenia's energy needs while exporting half of its production to Croatia.