Parliamentary parties have decided to call off the consultative referendum on a second unit at Slovenia's sole nuclear power station scheduled for 24 November after a leaked wiretap showed the largest two of them colluding to circumvent legal concerns over the referendum question.

The recording, aired on a current affairs talk show on TV Slovenija on 17 October, showed the parliamentary legal office warn a consultative referendum can only be about a question the National Assembly has not yet decided on, but still the assembly went on to adopt a resolution in May discussing expansion of the Krško nuclear power plant and then calling a referendum on Krško 2 on 10 October.

Both the referendum and the resolution were endorsed in bi-partisan votes in a rare show of unity with only the Left and two other individual MPs voting against. The wiretap, which is alleged to have been leaked by the Left, shows representatives of the ruling Freedom Movement and the opposition Democratic Party (SDS) discussing how to get the resolution and referendum through procedurally.

The referendum question put to voters was to be whether they "support the implementation of the Krško 2 project, which will ensure a stable supply of electricity together with other low-carbon sources", which a number of NGOs described as suggestive and manipulative. Two applications have been filed at the Constitutional Court challenging the referendum.

The opponents have been arguing that the referendum is premature because there is still too little information about the project for voters to make an informed decision, while a decision on Krško expansion in principle has already been made in the resolution.

Loss of trust

In the wake of all those concerns and media coverage about massive delays and cost overruns faced by some other countries building nuclear power plants, a poll released by the newspaper Dnevnik on 21 October showed public support for Krško 2 falling by nearly 10 percentage points since January to 59% with over 64% of respondents saying they do not have enough information about the project.

On the same day that the poll was released and just four days before the official start of campaigning for the referendum, the SDS came out to propose cancelling the popular vote, arguing that that political credibility had been undermined and deciding on the project in such a situation would have long-term negative effects for the state and the people.

"The referendum question has been manipulated with, and the ruling coalition, which bears the biggest responsibility, is not united," said Zvonko Černač, an MP for the SDS, the first party to push for the referendum in January. He said what had been shown on TV as secret colluding to trick voters was in fact "ordinary coordination among parliamentary parties".

"When things clear up and when the government that is aware of the strategic importance of continued use of nuclear energy for electricity production for peaceful purposes takes responsibility, we will file a referendum proposal again," Černač said.

Blueprint for Krško 2 to include safeguards

Within hours, the three ruling coalition parties announced that they agreed to cancel the referendum after it became clear that the public does not feel sufficiently informed about the project.

Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy Bojan Kumer argued the referendum must be called off to prevent abuse and a repeat of unit 6 of the Šoštanj coal-fired power plant, a project marred by corruption whose cost more than doubled to €1.4 billion before it started trial operation in 2015. The loss-making plant will now be bailed out by the state to provide district heating.

Kumer accused the SDS of misleading the public with its proposal to call off the referendum because the opposition party had been the one to propose the vote in the first place and Prime Minister Robert Golob then sought unity among parliamentary parties in a bid to reach a national consensus.

The Freedom Movement will now return to its original plan of drawing up a blueprint of a Krško 2 bill in November, which will include all the necessary safeguards, he said. The public will be included in the process and will also be able to decide on the investment later on, which will "ensure maximum transparency and guarantee a democratic process".

Slovenia is the smallest of 30-plus countries with operating power stations globally. Located near the Croatian border, Krško is in joint ownership of the two countries with each holding 50%. It was built in the former Yugoslavia and launched in 1983. Its lifespan was extended in 2023 by 20 years until 2043.

Current estimates put the price tag of Krško 2 at between €9.6 billion and €15.4 billion, depending on what size reactor would be chosen. The price estimates do not include financing costs. Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said on 21 October that Slovenia was capable of financing the project itself with a combination of equity and debt financing, but clear rules would have to be laid down.