Serbia has initiated discussions with the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom on potential cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, advancing plans to develop a future nuclear program. During talks with Rosatom’s Director General Aleksey Likhachev, Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedovic highlighted the long-standing energy ties between Serbia and Russia, covering gas, oil, and electricity projects. She emphasized that Serbia is entering a strategic phase in shaping its power sector and has begun laying the groundwork for potential nuclear development after lifting a 35-year ban on constructing nuclear power plants. Authorities are currently in the preliminary stages of designing a nuclear roadmap and consulting multiple international partners.
The Minister described Rosatom as one of the world’s most experienced nuclear technology providers, with over eight decades of expertise in building and supporting nuclear programs globally. She noted that Serbia is interested in knowledge exchange and technical support during the preparatory phase. The Government views nuclear energy as a potential long-term solution to ensure stable baseload electricity generation, driven by economic expansion, digitalization, artificial intelligence development, and decarbonization goals. Strategic documents adopted by Serbia identify nuclear power as a post-2040 option, while the formation of a National Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization (NEPIO) is expected to be approved shortly.
According to the Minister, Serbia aims to complete the first two preparatory phases of its nuclear program by 2032. Cooperation is already underway with French EDF in the early assessment stage, and Belgrade remains open to engaging additional technology providers. She also indicated that by the time Serbia reaches the decision phase, small modular reactor (SMR) technologies are likely to be more mature and could be evaluated alongside conventional reactor designs.
Once institutional, regulatory, and human resource capacities are sufficiently developed, Serbia intends to select a technology partner and proceed with construction, targeting the connection of a nuclear power plant to the grid after 2040. Likhachev presented Rosatom’s international portfolio, noting that the corporation is currently implementing around 30 large and small nuclear units across nine countries, including China, India, Egypt, Turkey, and Hungary. He proposed establishing a working group to facilitate technical cooperation with Serbia, focusing on public communication, workforce development, and regulatory framework analysis.
