Neither the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union in 1986 nor the leak in a water coolant on Wednesday at Slovenia's Krsko nuclear plant have dampened the enthusiasm of EU newcomers like Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia for atomic energy.

"Will we be brave enough to recommend European countries invest in the construction of new reactors," Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek asked during a recent forum in Prague.

Eastern Europe can count on public support for nuclear power, according to Eurobarometer surveys for the European Commission.

Where citizens of western European states like Austria vehemently oppose nuclear power, a majority of Hungarian, Slovak and Czech people favour it.

The ex-communist countries' apparent taste for the atom stems in large part from their desire to guarantee energy security and lower heavy dependence on communist-era master Russia for natural gas and other fossil fuels.

Lithuania and non-nuclear Baltic neighbours Estonia, Latvia and Poland are ironing out the details in plans to build a new 3200 Megawatt reactor to replace Lithuania's ageing Soviet-era Ignalina plant by 2015.

The Baltic state pledged to shut down the Chernobyl-type reactor by 2010 as part of its entry into the European Union.

All having agreed to shut their Soviet-built reactors as part of their EU accession deals, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Slovakia are now lobbying the EU to extend the life-span of their facilities.

In Slovakia, Italian electricity company Enel has agreed to build two reactors by 2013 at Mochovce in the west of the country.

Enel has a controlling stake in Slovakia's formerly state power provider, Slovenske Elektrarne.

In 2006 Bulgaria signed a deal with Russia's Atomstroyexport to build a new nuclear power station at Belene, on the Danube River.

The facility is to have two new-generation 1,000 Megawatts rectors. But plans to have the facility up and running by 2013 have been delayed due to financing difficulties.

Last November, Romania launched the second phase of the Cernavoda nuclear station, using Canadian nuclear technology. Plans are afoot to build two more reactors at Cernavoda by 2014-15 and another separate facility by 2020.

If the projects succeed, all ex-communist EU newcomers will have nuclear energy in less than a decade, either through domestic facilities or via partnership agreements, like the Baltic-Polish project in Lithuania.

By contrast, seven of the 15 western European EU members have shied away from nuclear energy citing its potential dangers, including the centuries-long toxicity of nuclear waste.

Others, such as Germany and Sweden, have decided to opt out completely of nuclear energy over the long term.

But spikes in the price of crude oil, worries over climate-change and dependence on Russian fossil fuel have all made nuclear energy an ever more appealing option among EU newcomers.

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