(Writes through with economy minister comments, gas deal)
By Peter Laca
BRATISLAVA, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Slovakia said on Monday it
would decide within hours whether to restart a Soviet-era
nuclear reactor, a plan that would put it on a collision course
with a highly critical European Union.
The government has begun preparatory work needed to restart
the 440 MW unit at the Jaslovske Bohunice power station. Prime
Minister Robert Fico said on Monday the decision would depend on
whether Slovakia received an assurance that Russian gas supplies
would resume.
Last week Bratislava declared a state of emergency after the
flow of Russian gas stopped and the government said the Bohunice
unit, closed at the end of 2008, had to be put into operation
again to maintain the stability of the power grid.
"I will check the situation when I return home, I will speak
with the prime minister and then I will decide what to do next,"
the news agency SITA quoted Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek as
saying after a meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels.
Fico also said Jahnatek would decide whether to restart the
Bohunice unit. Ministry officials were not available for
comment.
Russia and Ukraine rescued a deal that could get Russian gas
flowing again via Ukraine to Europe on Tuesday after a contract
dispute had cut off supplies for nearly a week.
The deal signed in Brussels on Monday set out the procedures
for international observers to deploy to strategic points along
the gas export route to check no gas is being stolen -- a
condition set by Russia for resuming supplies.
SUPPLIES RESUME ON TUESDAY
Alexander Medvedev, the deputy chief executive of Russia's
state gas export monopoly Gazprom, said gas supplies should be
restarted at 0700 GMT on Tuesday "if there are no obstacles".
Even before the gas deal was signed, Fico sounded less
certain about restarting the Bohunice reactor on Monday than he
had done in statements made over the weekend.
He and Jahnatek said at the weekend the unit would resume
operations and stay connected to the grid until gas supplies
were stabilised and Slovak gas storage tanks were full again.
The Bohunice nuclear reactor was shut down in December 2008
to comply with Slovakia's EU accession agreement.
A spokesman for the European Commission, the EU's executive
arm, said any attempt to restart the unit at Bohunice would
break European Union rules.
"It will be a serious violation of primary law of the EU and
the Comission will react in consequence," he said. He added the
Commission would listen to Slovakia's arguments for restarting
the unit.
Neighbouring Austria has also protested against the plan to
restart the Bohunice unit, saying the reactor was not safe.
The EU accession agreement, setting terms for Slovakia's
entry to the bloc in 2004, had forced Bratislava to close
another unit at the Soviet-designed Bohunice in 2006.
Leftist leader Fico had opposed the accession deal, agreed
by the previous centre-right administration his government
replaced two years ago, and has repeatedly said the Bohunice
facility met all safety standards.
The gas dispute, which began when Russia and Ukraine could
not agree on the price Ukraine should pay for Russian gas this
year, has intensified calls for alternative energy sources.
Slovakia's southern neighbour, Hungary, has also said it
needs to consider whether to build new nuclear power generating
capacity.
(Additional reporting by Boris Groendahl in Vienna and Marcin
Grajewski in Brussels; editing by Tim Pearce)
