In the debate over the future of Slovenia’s energy sector, the planned second reactor at the Krško nuclear power plant (JEK2) has remained both politically resilient and strategically central across successive governments.

Estimated between €9.6bn for a 1,000 MW unit and €15.4bn for a 1,650 MW unit, under earlier assumptions, the JEK2 project is one of the most expensive infrastructure undertakings in Slovenia’s history.

Despite political shifts and changing rhetoric across electoral cycles, it has remained a rare point of continuity in Slovenian politics, consistently surviving attempts to delay or reshape major long-term investment plans.

Now, under the right-wing government led by Prime Minister Janez Janša, who took office in June 2026, the project is not only being maintained but accelerated.

“The government intends to accelerate the JEK2 project development in compliance with the existing legislative framework,” the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy said in written statement to IntelliNews.

Krško nuclear power plant is the country’s only nuclear facility and already its single most important source of electricity.  According to the latest data from Slovenia's statistical office, the Krško nuclear power plant generated around 517 GWh of electricity in May, accounting for nearly half of the country's total electricity production of 1,135 GWh. Output was unchanged from a year earlier, underscoring the plant's central role in the national grid.

The new reactor is intended to expand that backbone. The government describes nuclear energy as a pillar of long-term energy security, industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation.

The Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy said that the new government supports the continued development of the JEK2 project and considers it one of Slovenia’s key strategic energy projects.

“Its position is to proceed with the necessary studies, spatial planning and environmental procedures, financing preparations, and licensing procedures so that a final investment decision can be made later in the decade,” the ministry said.

Rather than reopening the project for political debate, the current administration is focusing on execution.

“In the coming period, the government is expected to complete the remaining spatial planning and environmental procedures, while the project investor, GEN energija, will further refine the financing model, continue technical assessments of reactor technologies, and strengthen project governance.”

“The overall objective is to bring JEK2 to a final investment decision based on robust technical, economic, and public-interest considerations,” according to the ministry.

The Krško plant is itself a legacy of former Yugoslavia. Constructed in the 1970s as a joint project between what were then the Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia, it remains jointly owned by Slovenia's GEN energija and Croatia's HEP, a partnership that continues to influence discussions on how the second reactor will be financed and governed.

Politically, JEK2 has increasingly been framed not just as an energy project but as a strategic national choice.

In February 2026, the previous Slovenian government led by Robert Golob formally adopted a resolution launching the preparation of a national spatial plan for the new reactor, marking a key administrative milestone that signalled long-term commitment regardless of political turnover.

The government's commitment has also been reinforced by the appointment of new Infrastructure and Energy Minister Jernej Vrtovec, who described JEK2 as his “absolute priority” before taking office and called for a shift towards what he termed a more “smart and realistic” energy policy.

Speaking during his parliamentary hearing in June, he explicitly rejected what he referred to as “quasi-green” approaches, arguing instead for firm investments in baseload capacity, especially nuclear power.

Vrtovec has also suggested that Slovenia should not rule out interstate cooperation for the project, hinting at the possibility of broader regional or international participation in financing or development.

Alongside nuclear expansion, he has pushed for faster development of hydropower projects, including upgrades along the Sava River and a reversible hydropower system, positioning nuclear and hydro as complementary pillars of a more stable energy mix.

Behind the political messaging, the technical timeline remains long. That puts the project firmly in the next decade’s energy landscape, meaning its success will depend on sustained political and financial commitment across multiple governments.

For Slovenia, the stakes are high: as a small industrialised EU state with limited energy resources, it depends on stable baseload power, with nuclear already central and set to remain key to both decarbonisation and energy independence.

Yet the scale of the investment, combined with evolving EU energy policy debates and domestic political shifts, means JEK2 will remain as much a political project as an engineering one.

Whether the United States will ultimately play a role in the project could become clearer soon. Necenzurirano.si reported on June 9 that the new Slovenian government is expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement with the US on nuclear energy, a move that could give US company Westinghouse—which served as the primary turnkey contractor for the original Krško plant, commissioned in 1983 and built under a 1974 contract—a leading position in the selection process for the JEK2 project.