The Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission have signed a new bilateral cooperation agreement to follow the first such agreement signed in 1993.

In the agreement the countries reaffirm their commitment to exchange technical information, cooperate in nuclear safety research and training of experts and to cooperate in potential emergency events, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning said.

The agreement was signed by Igor Sirc, director of the Nuclear Safety Administration, and NRC chair Christopher T. Hanson, on 21 March on the sidelines of a review meeting of contracting parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety in Vienna.

The ministry noted that US companies are suppliers for the reactor and related equipment for the Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK) and for the research reactor of the Jožef Stefan Institute at Dol near Ljubljana. Slovenia is planning to build a second unit at Krško. The life span on the current unit has been expanded to 2043.

The bilateral agreement is deemed of "exceptional importance for the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration, providing it with direct contact with the authority of the country of manufacture of the mentioned reactors and related systems", the release from the ministry reads.

Slovenia has been a party to the Convention on Nuclear Safety since 1996. The parties to the convention that operate civil nuclear power plants made a commitment to respect fundamental principles in order to maintain a high level of nuclear safety.