Czech Republic starts nuclear power offensive: new reactors for Dukovany!

Czech Republic starts nuclear power offensive: new reactors for Dukovany!

Dukovany, Tschechien - the Czech Republic has taken an important step towards energy independence. On Wednesday, the Czech government signed contracts with the South Korean company KHNP for the construction of two new reactor blocks in the Dukovany nuclear power plant. The award was made possible after the Supreme Administrative Court in the Czech Republic had lifted a preliminary decision. This had blocked the signing of the contract based on a lawsuit by the French energy giant EDF, which was directed against the award procedure without a public tender.

This step marks a progress for the project, which was originally contested by EDF. The French company had previously failed when it appealed to the Czech antimonopoly office. In a phrase clearly positive for the tendering process, Prime Minister Petr Fiala emphasized that the award to KHNP was correct and compliant.

High investments for innovative technologies

The costs for each of the new reactors amount to around 200 billion crowns, which corresponds to around 7.9 billion euros. The Dukovany location is thus further upgraded - there are currently four pressure water reactors of the Soviet design, all of which are older than 35 years. In the case of operating extensions, the Czech Republic relies on a significant change in technology, while 60 percent of the orders are to be awarded to the domestic industry at the same time. These investments pursue the goal of increasing the proportion of nuclear power in the Czech electricity mix by 2040 from about a third to more than half.

an important step in energy policy

The new reactors in Dukovany are part of a more extensive plan to expand the capacities of Czech atomic energy as a whole. In recent years there have been increased efforts to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. The energetic conversion is in the context of a wider European discussion about the role of nuclear power in climate protection and ensuring a stable energy supply. The Czech Republic and 21 other countries at the UN climate conference said that they would like to triple the global capacity of nuclear energy by 2050.

The first of the new reactors are to take up test mode in 2036, while the second two years later could follow. However, this development will not remain without criticism - the opponents of nuclear power from the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria are skeptical and consider it outdated.

Czech energy policy is an exciting topic that has both national and international implications. The further steps and the implementation of the projects will affect both regional cooperation and public opinion in the affected countries. In view of these developments, the discussion about nuclear energy remains absolutely alive and relevant.

For further details on the current situation in the Czech nuclear industry, visit the reporting of NAU, AP News and Wikipedia: AP news , wikipedia .