As of: February 6, 2024, 6:08 a.m
By: Markus Hofstetter
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The Czech government wants to build more new nuclear reactors than planned.
It is already clear that the schedule and budget will not be adhered to.
Prague - Soviet-designed nuclear power plants are in operation at two locations in the Czech Republic.
There are two reactors in Temelin with an output of 2,164 megawatts, and in Dukovany there are four older reactors with an output of 1,792 megawatts.
The Czech Republic wants to build four new nuclear reactors: Originally only one reactor was planned
The country will continue to rely on nuclear energy for its energy supply in the future.
Therefore, the Czech government initially planned to build another reactor at the Dukovany nuclear power plant.
Now there will be up to four in total, two each in Dukovany and Temelin, not far from the border with Bavaria.
The government thereby changed its original tender and asked bidders to submit a binding offer for the construction of up to four new reactors.
However, the pool of bidders was severely restricted.
For security reasons, the Russian Rosatom and the Chinese state-owned company China General Nuclear Corporation were excluded from the tender.
The Temelin nuclear power plant is also to receive two new reactors.
© Armin Weigel/dpa/archive image
The Czech Republic wants to build four new nuclear reactors: US company Westinghouse is surprisingly out of the race
But the US group Westinghouse is no longer there either.
The Czech Minister of Trade and Industry, Jozef Síkela, explained that his offer was not binding and therefore could not be taken into account in the evaluation.
This is a surprise since Westinghouse was one of the favorites.
This means that only Electricité de France (EDF) from France and Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP) are still in the running.
Both companies now have until April 15 to submit binding offers.
A decision on the winner should be made by the middle of the year.
This is followed by negotiations about a concrete contract.
The first new reactor is scheduled to go into operation at the Dukovany site in 2036.
Czech Republic wants to build four new nuclear reactors: High probability of cost explosion
The costs for building the reactors are still unclear.
The majority state-owned Czech energy company České energetické závody (ČEZ) speaks of 6.5 billion euros per block.
However, this number is based on calculations from 2020, so the costs are now likely to be significantly higher.
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In addition to the high probability of cost increases, the schedule is also uncertain.
This is demonstrated by the new construction project Hinkley Point C in southern England, which is being realized by EDF.
At the start of construction in 2016, commissioning was planned for 2025. According to EDF, the first reactor is now scheduled to go online between 2029 and 2031.
Originally the costs were estimated at 18 billion pounds, now it is said to be between 31 and 34 billion pounds.
However, according to EDF, this is the value of the pound in 2015. This means that the actual costs are likely to be significantly higher at today's prices.
But it's not just Prague that relies on nuclear power.
France also wants to build up to eight new nuclear power plants and Sweden ten.