Croatia and Bosnia Dispute Over Nuclear Waste Disposal Site

Croatian Parliament passed the Act on the Construction of a Center for Radioactive Waste Management, establishing a regulatory framework for storing waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, as well as waste generated by domestic hospitals and industry. However, the adoption of this law, which paves the way for a radioactive waste repository at the Čerkezovac site, has sparked fierce protests from officials and environmentalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)

The move has caused significant outcry in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, given that the planned Čerkezovac location on Trgovska Gora is situated just three kilometers from the border and in the immediate vicinity of the Una National Park. Consequently, international arbitration has been announced, according to media.

Croatia receives a substantial portion of its electricity (approximately 15%) from the nuclear power plant located in Slovenia. Under a bilateral agreement, Croatia is obligated to take over and store half of the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste produced by the plant—a standard international practice.

The new law provides for the construction of a dedicated facility for the Krško waste, the reconstruction of existing former Yugoslav Army (JNA) warehouses to hold radioactive waste generated within Croatia, and the conduct of an environmental impact assessment at the Čerkezovac site.

At the same time, Balkan Insight reports that experts such as Vjeran Piršić from the Eko Kvarner association emphasize that Croatia must resolve the waste issue on its own territory. However, he also warns of a lack of communication with citizens and a potential decline in the value of real estate and agricultural land in the surrounding area.

On the other side of the border, reactions are considerably sharper. Activists from Novi Grad, a town located barely four kilometers from the planned repository, claim that the voices of BiH citizens are being completely ignored. “This is a message to all of us living in BiH that the only right we have in this case is to move away if we don’t like what Croatia is doing,” Mario Crnković from the Green Team association told BIRN, as reported by Balkan Insight.

The Mayor of Novi Grad, Miroslav Drljača, assessed the new law as another blow and emphasized that the problem will likely be resolved at the international level, either before the Secretariat of the Espoo Convention (on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context) or through court proceedings.

BiH officials point out that, to date, Croatia has not submitted research results nor included the neighboring country in the planning process, despite the fact that the location could directly threaten the Una River basin and the health of over 250,000 people in the region.

Sources: Balkan Insight, Euronews, Radio Free Europe, 021

S.A.