Serbia lifts nuclear moratorium after 35 years

Serbia's National Assembly has approved legislation that overturns the nation's decades-old moratorium on nuclear power plants as the nation looks to reduce pollution.

Minister of mining and energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović posted on social media after the November 27 vote, "History has been written today. Many will inherit what has been done today!"

The ban was imposed in former Yugoslavia several years after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, but Serbia is now looking for cleaner energy solutions and to align with European Union standards.

Big picture: Minister Đedović shared that a new energy strategy has been adopted to guide the nation through 2040.

Serbia has relied for decades on cheap coal to power its economy, but it has taken a toll-with the capital Belgrade regularly ranked as one of the most polluted cities during the winter.

New research published recently has identified that dirty air and water are the leading causes of multimorbidity in Serbia. The study was led by the Healthy Lifespan Institute at the University of Sheffield in collaboration with the University of Belgrade, Aston University, the Institute of Public Health of Serbia, the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Internal Medicine, according to Airqualitynews.com.

Nearly 70 percent of Serbia's electricity comes from coal-fired power plants. In 2021 alone, an estimated 15,000 deaths were linked to pollution, according to a report by the European Environment Agency.

Partners: In April, Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding with Électricité de France, a global leader in nuclear and renewable energy production, to establish long-term dialogue and cooperation in energy transition and low-carbon technology. EDF may also revitalize existing hydroelectric power plants to help ensure Serbia's energy security.

Then, in July, five ministries of the Serbian government signed another MOU, partnering with 20 scientific and academic institutions and institutes, to develop nuclear energy.

Serbian prime minister Miloš Vučević pointed out after signing the MOU that this "corrects a mistake made in the 1980s, when the state banned the production of nuclear energy," according to a news release.

"No one has any doubts that the issue of electricity will be dominant and strategic, as well as that investment in this area will be a matter of sovereignty and independence of a country," Vučević added.

The prime minister emphasized the need to prioritize peacetime nuclear energy and asked that this issue not be politicized.