According to the current indicators, the cause of the automatic suspension of production in the plant, which was labelled as "an abnormal event" or "a zero-level accident" without impact on the environment, was an unexpected shutdown of a 380-kilovolt transmission line running to Zagreb.

The nuclear plant in the eastern Slovenian town of Krsko is jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia.

"The preventive activities necessary for reconnecting the nuclear plant to the network can be performed in 24 hours," Rozman was quoted by the Slovenian media as saying.

He explained that the work of the plant was stopped due to external and not internal causes.

A drop in the voltage of the power transmission lines results in an immediate suspension of production, and these preventive mechanisms were activated without mistake in the latest case as well, according to Rozman.

He said that he did not know the reason for the external fault detected at about 13 hrs, according to the Slovenian energy provider ELES.

Under security protocols, all equipment should be checked in the plant before it is restarted.

The Croatian State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety said in a statement earlier today that production at the nuclear power plant Krsko had been suspended due to a minor fault in the plant's switchgear, but that the security of the plant was not threatened.

"A minor fault occurred in the switchgear, which was why the transmission of the produced electricity to the external grid was suspended. Under security protocols, in such cases, production in the plant is automatically suspended. The security of the plant and the insulation of the radioactive material was not jeopardised in any moment.

There was no leakage of radioactivity in the surrounding area," the Office said, adding that the information about the suspension of the plant's work was received via the State Alert Centre.

The Krsko nuclear power plant, too, issued a statement saying that it suspended production at 1030 hrs and that the reason for it was an unexpected shutdown of a 380-kilovolt transmission line running to Zagreb. Spokesperson Ida Novak told Hina that the plant's operation was suspended safely and that it had no impact on the environment.

As soon as the reason for the sudden shutdown is established, the plant will be restarted, Novak said.

Later on Wednesday the Croatian energy supplier (HEP) said that the latest developments in the Krsko plant had not caused any problem in the provision of electricity on the Croatian market, as standby capacity was available.