LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), March 23 (SeeNews) – Slovenia's sole nuclear power plant (NPP) Krsko has not been affected by the 5.3 magnitude earthquake that struck neighbouring Croatia on Sunday and continues to operate in full steam, the Slovenian government said.
"The nuclear power plant staff inspected systems and equipment. They did not find any deviations or other impacts on the plant operation and equipment due to the earthquake," the government said in a statement on Sunday.
The earthquake hit the Croatian capital Zagreb early on Sunday, injuring some 30 people and leaving behind considerable material damage.
The Krsko nuclear plant is located in Slovenia near the border with Croatia, some 50 km northwest of Zagreb. It was built in the 1970s and launched operations in 1982, when the two countries were still part of the former Yugoslavia.
The plant is jointly managed by its two owners - Slovenia's GEN Energija and Croatian power utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP). The two neighbouring countries share the power plant's output.
The Krsko plant operates a Westinghouse pressurised light water reactor of 2,000 MW thermal power capacity, which generates over five billion kWh of electricity per year. It generates some 40% of Slovenia's electricity output.