Czechia will build its first small modular reactor in 2032 to increase energy security and climate protection in a project backed by Czech President Petr Pavel, who stressed the role of nuclear energy in the country’s future energy mix.
Czechia already has two conventional nuclear plants in Temelín and Dukovany but plans to expand its nuclear energy capacities with small modular reactors and build new blocks of traditional plants.
“I am convinced that the future of energy for the Czech Republic is clearly linked to nuclear energy, but also that we must have the right mix of nuclear energy. This means both large reactors and small modular ones,“ the Czech president said on Tuesday.
“I think it would be right for us to choose the path of parallel construction of both a large reactor at Dukovany and a small one at Temelín in the national energy strategy,“ Pavel added.
The first small modular reactor will be built in 2032 in Temelín. Last year, Czech energy giant ČEZ completed the first phase of geological surveys of the site, but it is not yet clear how much the reactor will cost to build.
“These technologies will be groundbreaking,” ČEZ CEO Daniel Benes said earlier.
Small modular reactors are easier and faster to build than large nuclear reactors, Beneš added. According to him, they could be placed in several Czech locations, including sites where coal and gas plants are currently located.
In Czechia, politicians are strongly pro-nuclear, including the Czech Pirate Party, despite it being affiliated with the Greens/EFA at the EU level.
Generally, the country is actively lobbying for nuclear energy at the EU level.
On Thursday, a delegation from the European Parliament will visit Czechia to see nuclear reactors located in the Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering of Czech Technical University in Prague.
The delegation will be led by Czech MEP Alexandr Vondra (ODS, ECR), Vice-Chair of the informal group of MEPs supporting nuclear energy.
(Aneta Zachová | EURACTIV.cz)
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