Westinghouse has started a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for an AP1000 reactor at the Jaslovské Bohunice site in Slovakia. The announcement was made on 28 October 2026. The work is partly funded by a grant from the US State Department’s FIRST program.
The study will run for six months and covers engineering, licensing and project planning. The client is Jadrová energetická spoločnosť Slovenska (JESS), a wholly owned subsidiary of JAVYS, the state-owned company developing Slovakia’s new nuclear plant. JESS CEO Tomáš Vavruška described the start of work as an important milestone that brings the project closer to realization. From the FEED, JESS expects more detailed technical documentation, including a preliminary schedule and budget, as well as an assessment of the site’s suitability for AP1000 technology.
The process began in January 2026, when Slovakia and the United States signed an intergovernmental agreement for a new state-owned unit of more than 1,000 MWe at Bohunice. At the end of April, at the Three Seas Initiative summit in Dubrovnik, a letter of intent for the FEED was signed. According to the Slovak press, the cost borne by the US government is around $5 million. Prime Minister Robert Fico stressed that the agreement opens negotiations on US technology and that the study will serve as the basis for the final decision.
Westinghouse notes that the AP1000 is the only Generation III+ reactor in operation with fully passive safety systems and modular construction. The reactor has an output of about 1,200 MW. The project is part of Slovakia’s strategy to reduce its energy dependence on foreign suppliers. The company has been present in the country for almost ten years, with contracts for decommissioning and nuclear fuel supply. In 2023 it signed agreements with JAVYS covering the AP1000 and AP300 SMRs.
Slovakia’s nuclear landscape is expanding. With Mochovce 4 reaching criticality, the country now has six operating reactors, and at Bohunice JAVYS set up a joint venture in 2025 with France’s newcleo on Generation IV modular reactors. According to the World Nuclear Association, the new Bohunice unit is expected to enter service in 2040.
If the FEED results confirm feasibility, JESS will be able to move to the contract phase with verified costs and timelines. Major construction work is expected to begin by 2032, with the aim of connecting the unit to the grid between 2038 and 2040.
