A new working group of Slovenian government ministers and industry officials has met with the aim of preparing "all the necessary bases for citizens to make high-quality and informed decisions about supporting the JEK2 project", with a planned timeline of a final investment decision by 2028 "at the latest".

The radioactive waste management organisations of Slovenia and Croatia have contracted Deep Isolation to deliver a cost study on potential borehole disposal of used fuel and high-level radioactive wastes from the Krško nuclear power plant.

Croatia is committed to addressing the challenges of managing its radioactive waste, an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded. Croatia is a co-owner of the Krško nuclear power plant, located in neighbouring Slovenia.

Slovenia's project to build a dry storage facility for used fuel is set to be completed later this year with the transfer of the first 592 used fuel elements.

Slovenia's Ministry of the Environment says it has approved Krško's operations for a further 20 years, following the completion of an environmental impact assessment, a process which included input from neighbouring countries Croatia, Austria, Italy and Hungary, plus Germany.

Prime Minister Robert Golob said "it will be difficult for Europe to get out of the current energy situation without the maximum use of all technologies" with renewables and nuclear at the forefront, and said that there will need to be a referendum to get public approval for the JEK 2 project for a second reactor at Krško in Slovenia.

Deep borehole disposal is a viable, cost-effective solution for all of the intermediate and high-level long-lived radioactive waste that is being temporarily stored by five European countries, according to a feasibility study by Deep Isolation. The study was commissioned by Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning on behalf of the European Repository Development Organisation, a multinational group established in 2021 to address the challenges of safely managing long-lived radioactive wastes either separately or in one combined mined repository.

The Krško nuclear power plant has been shut down as a precaution after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the town of Petrinja, which is 50 km south-east of the Croatian capital of Zagreb. The plant is located in Slovenia at a site about 80 km north-west of Petrinja.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that successful tests of a "promising technology" for moving and storing low level radioactive sealed sources are "paving the way" for a new disposal method for dealing with small volumes of radioactive waste around the world. The proof of concept for the technology was tested in Croatia late last year without the use of actual radioactive material, the IAEA said on 11 January.