Czech President Supports Launch of Small Modular Reactor

President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel has supported plans to launch the country's first small modular reactor in 2032 and emphasised the role of nuclear power in the country's future energy mix.

It is reported by NucNet.

"I am convinced that the future of the Czech Republic's energy sector is clearly linked to nuclear energy, but we must also have the right mix of nuclear energy. This means both large reactors and small modular reactors," he said.

"I think it would be right that we choose the path of parallel construction of both a large reactor in Dukovany and a small reactor in Temelín in the national energy strategy," Pavel added.

The Czech Republic already has six large commercial nuclear power plants - two in Temelín and four in Dukovany - which account for about 36% of the country's electricity production.

But Prague is planning to expand its nuclear power with SMRs and new large power plants.

The Czech state-owned energy company ČEZ recently said it expects a new large-scale reactor unit at Dukovany to be deployed no earlier than 2036 to meet projected growth in demand for low-carbon electricity.

In March 2022, ČEZ launched a tender process to select a supplier for the new unit.

Construction could start in 2029 and be completed by 2036. The Ministry of Industry has stated that this will be the largest investment in the modern history of the Czech Republic, worth around €6 billion ($6.7 billion).

A possible second new large-scale unit could be built in Dukovany with an estimated lifetime of no earlier than the mid-2040s. This would coincide with the decommissioning of the existing Dukovany PWRs.

CES has also said it plans to deploy SMRs with the first to come online in 2032 at Temelin. In March, it said it had preliminarily identified two preferred locations for additional units.

Also, as reported by The Gaze, Czech state-owned energy company ČEZ has announced a tender for "billions of Czech crowns" to replace generators at the two-unit Temelín nuclear power plant in the south of the country.

Companies can submit their bids for the contract, and the work is expected to be completed between 2028 and 2030. The tender notice published in the country's State Public Procurement Bulletin states that the contract is for the supply of two complete generators, including one spare rotor, installation and subsequent maintenance.

It was also reported that the National Centre for Nuclear Research of Poland (Narodowe Centrum Badań Jądrowych - NCBJ) received funding from the central government to modernise the country's only research nuclear reactor, Maria.

The project is worth 91.7 million zlotys (20 million euros, 22 million dollars) and will include upgrades needed to extend the reactor's lifetime until at least 2050.

The NCBJ said the upgrades will include power supply, control and protection, ventilation and dosimetry systems, an emergency warning system and a cooling tower.