According to ČEZ, small modular reactors could be located in Temelin, Tušimice, Prunéřov, Ledvice, Poříčí, Dětmarovice, and Dukovany. These are places where there are currently coal-fired or other power plants. The first such reactor will be built in 2032 in Temelín, Silvana Jirotková, director of the ČEZ unit for developing small modular reactors, said on Wednesday. None of the ČEZ representatives said how much the reactor would cost to build.
Jirotková said the Czech Republic will lack a significant part of its resources in 2050 due to growing electricity consumption. Small modular reactors could be located next to Temelín in places where ČEZ now operates coal-fired power plants.
“We would like to transform these, concerning the environment and the emission-free policy, into small modular reactors. It makes sense to replace the resource that is reaching the end of its life with new resources, also taking into account our commitment to move away from coal,” Jirotková said.
“The sites in northern Bohemia, in northern Moravia, where there is significant industrial production, make sense. Also, because there is a central heat supply there, modular reactors would be able to handle that as well,” she added.
The first such reactor could start operating in Temelín in 2032. Jirotkova said this is “a very ambitious goal.”
She identified Dětmarovice and Tušimice as very suitable sites. ČEZ is also considering a small modular reactor in Mělník.
ČEZ wants to reach a choice of technology for the country’s first modular nuclear reactor this year and next. It is working with seven companies that are developing the technology. According to ČEZ and the government, the domestic energy sector will not be able to do without nuclear power as it moves away from coal.
The first small modular reactor will be built at Temelín, a pilot project in the Czech Republic.
“These technologies will be groundbreaking. They are suitable as a complement to large pressurized water reactors, especially in locations where there were coal-fired power plants that will be coming to an end, (in locations) where there are gas-fired power plants,” ČEZ CEO Daniel Beneš said earlier.
He said that the small modular reactors are almost as big as the nuclear units at Dukovany. But they are easier and faster to build than large atomic reactors.
The price has increased
No one has yet commented on the estimated costs. The Carbon Free Power Project, which is technically preparing to build a world pilot project using NuScale modular reactors, announced a significant increase in construction costs in January.
The project’s cost with six NuScale reactors (total capacity of 462 MW) has reached $9.3 billion (about CZK 205 billion), Temelín.cz reported.
The International Atomic Energy Agency defines a small modular reactor as a nuclear power plant with an electrical capacity of up to 300 megawatts electric. However, ČEZ said it is easier and faster to build than large atomic reactors.