Permitting new nuclear facilities is likely to become faster in Czechia, as president signs law

Permitting the construction of new nuclear facilities, including small modular reactors, in Czechia is likely to become simpler and faster. Nuclear legislation should also be ready for the arrival of new nuclear technologies. This is provided for in a government amendment to the Atomic Act signed by President Petr Pavel. The Presidential Office reported this. Under the state’s current plans, nuclear energy, together with renewables, is to be a main source in the Czech energy mix. Preparations are currently focused mainly on building new nuclear units at the Dukovany power plant.

The changes are primarily intended to reduce the regulatory burden involved in the approval of construction projects by state authorities. They are mainly technical changes. According to the government, the current law did not, for example, account for small modular reactors. The amendment will also allow applicants to request preliminary information from the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB) on how applications are assessed. It will also allow exemptions from the requirements of the law.

One of the new mechanisms introduced by the amendment is a request for preliminary information addressed to the SÚJB. Its purpose is to seek an explanation or consultation on how the authority would decide. The government says this is needed because the rapid emergence of new technologies brings a range of technical and technological uncertainties. It is therefore necessary to clarify, before the relevant proceedings begin, whether the information, supporting documents, technologies and equipment will meet the requirements. The authority will then state whether it will require, for example, additional conditions, or what criteria it will use to assess the application.

Another new feature is the possibility of granting an exemption from the requirements of the law by a decision of the SÚJB. The law already allows certain exemptions, including a change to the category of a workplace or source of ionizing radiation. An application to the authority will have to state the relevant reasons and demonstrate that the conditions set out by law have been met.

When approving the amendment, the Chamber of Deputies adopted an amendment proposed by an MP and lowered the upper limit on fees paid to the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority. Nuclear power plants will be required to pay no more than 120 Kč/MWh, while nuclear research facilities and nuclear heating plants will pay 80 Kč/MWh. The government had proposed 163 and 109 crowns, respectively. MPs justified their proposal to reduce the fees by saying that the proposed increase would be unacceptable for a fee payer operating a nuclear energy facility.

The current Atomic Act has been in force since 1 January 2017. It governs the peaceful use of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation and, on a „cradle-to-grave“ basis, covers all components of the life cycle of nuclear facilities.

South Korea’s KHNP won the tender to build two nuclear units at Dukovany, with contracts expected to be ready for signing at the end of this March. The first of the new reactors should be completed in 2036. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred option of building two reactors is 400 billion crowns. The state is also planning an option for two more reactors at Temelín in the future.