Slovakia to sign nuclear energy cooperation agreement with US, PM Fico says

Slovakia will sign an agreement on nuclear power cooperation with the United States next week, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said, as the country moves toward a deal to build a new nuclear power unit with US help, Report informs via Reuters.

Slovakia, which currently has five nuclear power reactors at two plants, has been in talks with Washington since last year to build a large plant with US group Westinghouse.

Fico said on Saturday the plant would have capacity of almost 1,200 megawatts (MW), bigger than existing units.

"In cooperation with American partners, we want to build a new huge block in purely state ownership on the grounds of the existing nuclear power plant in Jaslovske Bohunice," he said, without elaborating.

Fico said he wanted to participate in the signing of the more general agreement on US-Slovak cooperation in the nuclear sector in Washington on Friday. He did not give more details on the signing.

The Slovak government approved an inter-governmental deal with the US in October for the construction of a new unit, and Fico said in December US President Donald Trump had invited him to the United States during this year's soccer World Cup for the signing of a nuclear power deal between the two countries.