Nuclear power in the Czech Republic
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The
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
operates two nuclear power plants: Temelín and
Dukovany Dukovany is a municipality and village in Třebíč District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. It is known for the Dukovany Nuclear Power Station. Geography Dukovany is located about southeast of Tř ...
. the government intends to increase the share of nuclear electricity production from 30 % to 58 %. To this end, a new reactor is to be constructed at the Dukovany site, which will replace older units by 2035. New capacities are also expected to be added at the Temelín site.


History

In 1956 a decision was made to build the first nuclear power station in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
, in
Jaslovské Bohunice Jaslovské Bohunice is a small village in Slovakia in the Trnava District. It is best known for the nearby Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant complex. The village arose in 1958 through a merge of Jaslovce (pop. 578 in 1948) and Bohunice (pop. 619 in 194 ...
(western Slovakia). The KS 150 or A1 reactor (120 
MWe The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
) was selected because of its ability to use unenriched
uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
mined in Czechoslovakia. The KS 150 was designed in the Soviet Union and built in Czechoslovakia. Construction was burdened by many problems and took an unexpectedly lengthy 16 years. In 1972 the plant was activated. In 1977 an
accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...
stopped energy production and since 1979 the reactor has been partly dismantled, but not decommissioned. In 1970 an agreement with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
was made to build two power stations of the
VVER The water-water energetic reactor (WWER), or VVER (from russian: водо-водяной энергетический реактор; transliterates as ; ''water-water power reactor'') is a series of pressurized water reactor designs originally de ...
reactor design. One plant was built again in Jaslovské Bohunice, the other in Dukovany (southern Moravia), both equipped with four reactors VVER-440 v. 213 producing 440 MWe each. The first new reactor in Jaslovské Bohunice was activated in 1978, the remaining 7 during the 1980s. At the end of the 1970s a decision was made to build two more power stations: Temelín (southern Bohemia, 4 × VVER-1000, 1000 MWe) and
Mochovce Mochovce ( hu, Mohi) is a former village in western Slovakia, best known for its nuclear power plant. It is situated in Nitra Region, northwest of Levice. The village inhabitants were relocated and the village was destroyed to make place for th ...
(southern Slovakia, 4 × VVER-440 v. 213, 440 MWe). In 1990, due to a decision by the government of
Petr Pithart Petr is a Czech given name for males and a Czech surname. Petr is the Czech form of ''Peter''. For information on Petr as a first name, see Peter (given name). Given name * Petr Aven (born 1955), Russian billionaire banker, economist and politic ...
, the Temelín station was limited to two reactors. The construction of Temelín also experienced delays and went over budget. The
fluoride volatility Fluoride volatility is the tendency of highly fluorinated molecules to vaporize at comparatively low temperatures. Heptafluorides, hexafluorides and pentafluorides have much lower boiling points than the lower- valence fluorides. Most difluor ...
method of reprocessing
used nuclear fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and ...
was developed at the Řež nuclear research institute at
Řež Řež () is a village (a part of Husinec municipality) in Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is located in valley of the Vltava River 11 km northwest from centre of Prague. According to the 2001 census the population was 722. ...
.


Spent fuel

The Czech Republic has no state policy on storage or reprocessing of
nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...
, and the responsibility for this falls to the Czech Power Company ( ČEZ). The ČEZ does not believe reprocessing is economical, and stores
spent fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor a ...
until the
Radioactive Waste Repository Authority The Czech Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (SÚRAO) was established on 1 June 1997 as a state organisation established by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In 2001, SÚRAO assumed the status of a government agency. The Authority is headed b ...
(RAWRA) assumes responsibility for it. The RAWRA will select a permanent location for storage by 2015 and construction will begin on this site after 2050.


Czech—Austrian relations

The Czech Republic and Austria have had disagreements concerning the
Temelín Nuclear Power Station Temelín Nuclear Power Station ( cs, Jaderná elektrárna Temelín, abbreviation ''JETE'') is located near Temelín, a small village in the Czech Republic. Temelín NPP is owned by ČEZ Group, which employs 1000 workers at this site. The adjac ...
only 50 km from the Czech–Austrian border. Austria had threatened the Czech Republic with difficulties in joining the EU if the plant was commissioned. Other opponents to this power plant claimed that it had the same design as the
Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...
. In fact, Chernobyl had
RBMK The RBMK (russian: реактор большой мощности канальный, РБМК; ''reaktor bolshoy moshchnosti kanalnyy'', "high-power channel-type reactor") is a class of graphite-moderated nuclear power reactor designed and buil ...
s, and Temelín would have
VVER The water-water energetic reactor (WWER), or VVER (from russian: водо-водяной энергетический реактор; transliterates as ; ''water-water power reactor'') is a series of pressurized water reactor designs originally de ...
s. The Czech President at the time,
Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...
, called the plant "megalomaniacal".


Proposed expansion

The
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
Energy Policy of 2004 envisaged building two or more large reactors to replace Dukovany power plant after 2020. The plans announced in 2006 envisaged construction of one 1,500 MWe unit at Temelín after 2020, and a second to follow. *The simplest expansion of nuclear capacity would be completion of the two units at Temelín, which were cancelled after the
Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
in 1989. In 2005 a recommendation by the Ministry of Industry suggested adding two 600 MWe reactors there before the year 2025. In August 2009, ČEZ launched a tendering process for two
pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) i ...
s (PWRs) for units 3 and 4. *Several locations in the
Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands ( cs, České země ) are the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia. Together the three have formed the Czech part of Czechoslovakia since 1918, the Czech Socialist Republic since ...
were investigated and selected for new stations during the 1980s: the village of Blahutovice (northern Moravia, near
Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...
), the village of Tetov (eastern Bohemia, near Pardubice), the town of Mníšek pod Brdy (central Bohemia) and a nuclear heating plant in Prague-Radotín. In 2019 the Czech government gave preliminary approval for at least one new nuclear power unit at
Dukovany Nuclear Power Station The Dukovany Nuclear Power Station is a nuclear power plant near Dukovany in the Czech Republic. It was the second nuclear power plant in Czechoslovakia (the Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant in what is now Slovakia was constructed in 1958), and the ...
for about 2035 to replace four units expected to shut down between 2035 and 2037. The financial model proposed is a state guarantee so finance can be obtained at government interest rates, but no subsidy on operating costs or above market-price electricity rates.


Blahutovice

Blahutovice, a village located in an isolated and thinly populated area, was selected in 1986 because of convenient geological conditions. A power station (JEBL) with two VVER-1000 reactors was proposed, together with a new dam in Hustopeče nad Bečvou. In 2000, the proposed start date for construction was not expected until 2015, if at all.


Tetov

Initially,
Opatovice nad Labem Opatovice nad Labem is a municipality and village in Pardubice District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,800 inhabitants. Administrative parts The village of Pohřebačka is an administrative part of Opatovice nad L ...
(home of a large coal powered power plant) was selected, but its location between the cities of
Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...
and Pardubice was unfavorable and the more distant village of Tetov was chosen. One plan suggested building a nuclear heating plant in Opatovice nad Labem instead. The power station required an area of 150
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...
s and was to have two or four VVER-1000 reactors, producing 1000 MWe each and also providing heating for the Hradec Králové-Pardubice agglomeration, and for Prague (using a 67 km long steam pipeline). Construction was to begin in 1996 and the reactors to be activated between 2004–2008. The cost was estimated to be 60 billion (109) Kčs.


Nuclear waste storage

Nuclear waste produced by the power stations and the other smaller reactors in the country is exported to
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
(or the Soviet Union before 1991), who supply the enriched uranium. A programme from 1980s recommended the building of an underground storage site to keep waste for reprocessing in the future. Geological exploration started during the second half of the 1990s. Eleven candidate locations have been selected but the process is not finished as of 2006. The possibility of storing waste on the Temelín station site is being considered.


Public opinion

Most Czechs support further expansion of nuclear power use, with support at 60 % in 2007. Those living near nuclear waste storage facilities argue that proposals for expansion of nuclear power block development of such areas, discourage investment and make the areas unattractive for tourists. Several villages organized
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s against planned waste storage and regional governments have tried to put up legal and administrative obstacles to new stations. In 2008, a poll found that 64 % of Czechs agree with the use of nuclear power, the highest level of support of the 27 EU countries surveyed, alongside Lithuania. Furthermore, the poll indicated that support was rising, from 52 % in 2004 to 64 % in 2008. An IBRS survey found that support for nuclear energy has risen to 65 % in 2021.


See also

*
Energy in the Czech Republic Energy in the Czech Republic describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in the Czech Republic. Overview Primary energy consumption per million people in 2008 was 50 TWh compared to other countries (TWh): Canada 93 (310 ...


References


External links


Nuclear energy plans of Czechoslovakia
(in Czech)
Website of the State Office for Nuclear Safety
(en, cz) {{Europe topic, Nuclear energy in