flagAlbania


Country Consideration Intention Establishment of Regulatory Bodies Known Discussions with IAEA Site Selection Construction Test Phase Initiation Connection to Grid
Albania Yes (1) Yes. PM Sali Berisha, Nov 2007 (1) Radiation Protection Commission Yes (3)

Summary

TreatiesCSAAPCNSCPPNM
SignedYesYes
In ForceYesYes

The government announced that it is planning the construction of its first nuclear power plant in 2007 (1). It suggested Durres as a site, which raised alarm in Greece for safety reasons (4). On 16 September 2009, Prime Minister Sali Berisha was in Italy to secure investment for the nuclear project (6).  Albania is furthermore considering a joint project with Croatia involving a 1,500 MW plant  at Lake Shkoder in Albania, near its border with Montenegro, although the site has not been confirmed (8) (9).

Additional Notes

"Albania is proposing to host nuclear plants that would supply electricity across the Adriatic by way of an underwater cable." (1)

"Albania is to build its first nuclear power plant after the government approved a project of the US company Westinghouse." (2)

"An IAEA expert mission will visit Albania next month at the request of the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, which is preparing to introduce nuclear power into the formerly isolated country." (3)

"It was the Athens News Agency [ANA] that announced two weeks ago that Albania intends to build a nuclear power station, citing a statement by Albanian Prime Minister Berisha to the effect that 'there is an offer from a French company to build a nuclear power station in Durres.'" (4)

"In 2007 the [Albanian] government proposed construction of a nuclear power plant for both domestic and export supply to Balkans and Italy. A proposed site is at Durres." (5)

"The prime ministers of Albania and Croatia - Sali Berisha and Ivo Sanader - might strike a deal for joint construction of a nuclear power plant near Skadar in the vicinity of the Albanian border with Montenegro by the end of the month, Montenegrin media report." (7)

“Two weeks ago, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serb newspapers all reported – without naming their source – that the governments of Albania and Croatia had agreed to build a 1,500-megawatt power station near lake Skadar, which is divided between Montenegro and Albania. […] But the reports are untrue, according to Tomislav Mazal, an adviser to Croatia's head negotiator on the issue, Vice Prime Minister Damir Polancec. ‘We have never talked about how much it might cost or where it might be’.” (9)

Sources

  1. Hooper, John (2007). "Albania in nuclear export scheme," The Guardian. November 10. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2208651,00.html.
  2. Southeast European Times (2007). "Albania to build its first nuclear power plant." November 11. Available at: http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbri....
  3. MacLachlan, Ann (2008). "IAEA team to visit Albania as part of country's nuclear power planning," Nucleonics Week. January 31.
  4. BBC Monitoring Europe (2007). "Albanian nuclear power plant prospect alarms Greek public." November 8. Available at: http://www.energetika.in.rs/News/-Albanian-Nuclear-Power-Plant-Prospect-....
  5. World Nuclear Association (2008). "Emerging Nuclear Energy Countries." August. Available at: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf102.html.
  6. Bushati, Gilmana (2008). "Berisha to Fini: We Want Atomic Station," Gazeta Shqiptare. September 16. Reported from BBC Monitoring Europe. "Albanian premier and Italian Speaker discuss nuclear plant, crime prevention."
  7. Macedonian International News Agency (2009). "Albania and Croatia to put Nuclear Plant on Montenegro's border." 17 April 2009. Available at: http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/6349/46/
  8. United Press International, Inc. (2009) "Albania, Croatia plan nuclear power plant," April 16. Available at: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/04/16/Albania-Croatia-plan-nuclear...
  9. Phil Cain, ‘Albania Nuclear Reactor Reports Premature’, World Politics Review, 28 April 2009. Available at: http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=3663

Centre for International Governance Innovation, “Albania,” Survey of Emerging Nuclear Energy States (SENES).
Available at: http://www.cigionline.org/senes/albania. Last updated: 06 October 2009.