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

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Slovakia ⁠will sign ⁠an ‍agreement on nuclear power cooperation with the United States next week, Slovak Prime Minister ‍Robert Fico said on Saturday, as the country ​moves toward a deal to build a new nuclear power ​unit with U.S. help.

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 U.S. 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 U.S.-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 U.S. in October for the construction of a new ‍unit, and Fico said in December U.S. 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.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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