Bloomberg: Vucic announcing urgent amendments to law on construction of small modular reactors

During an open session of the Serbian Government, alongside Prime Minister Djuro Macut and his cabinet, President Aleksandar Vucic announced urgent legislative amendments to enable the construction of small modular reactors (SMRs), Bloomberg reports. According to the news outlet, the President claims that Serbia is facing a dramatic surge in power consumption and a decline in production from the state power utility EPS, necessitating an immediate response.

According to Bloomberg, the primary drivers behind this initiative are the phasing out of coal-fired thermal power plants and the energy “hunger” of new AI data centers, writes the Nuklearna Perspektiva portal.

Bloomberg adds that Serbia is currently weighing offers from across the globe. Although a non-binding framework agreement exists with the French utility EDF, the President emphasized that projects from China, Japan, the USA (Westinghouse), South Korea, and Russia (Rosatom) are also on the table. He further stated that EDF representatives are expected to arrive in Belgrade in “15 days.” Alongside the closure of aging coal units due to EU pressure and CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) taxes, the “key reason for the urgency” appears to be four new data centers that the government plans to open for AI purposes—data centers, which Nuklearna Perspektiva says it is hearing about for the very first time.

As a reminder, Serbia officially lifted its nuclear moratorium in November 2024, yet it still lacks a developed regulatory framework or the technical expertise required for such massive ventures.

The World Nuclear Association (WNA) report from Davos indicates that Serbia only plans its first 250 megawatts by 2042.

Nuklearna Perspektiva points out that the current narrative of “urgency” and the “EDF arriving in 15 days” creates significant tension between political marketing and realistic engineering timelines.

It is particularly interesting that AI data centers are cited as a primary reason for this rush. The NP portal asks: are we (perhaps?) building nuclear plants to provide electricity for our citizens, or to service the energy appetite of global tech giants? The portal also estimates that mentioning China, Russia, the USA, and France in this context demonstrates that Serbia is attempting to use nuclear energy as a geopolitical balancing tool, much like it has with other major infrastructure projects.

Ultimately, it appears that Serbia is entering a phase where the nuclear issue will be “broken over the knee”: handled in a decisionistic manner, without a solid implementation plan, and without public debate. Nuklearna Perspektiva also notes that Serbian media are reporting about events in Serbia by sourcing our information from foreign outlets.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Predsedništvo Republike Srbije

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

president of Serbia

EDF

Westinghouse

Rosatom

EPS

Aleksandar Vučić

small modular reactors

AI data centers