CEZ plans to hire 4,000 specialists over the next decade, mainly for Czech nuclear units

Energy company CEZ plans to hire 4,000 specialists over the next ten years, not only in technical fields, mainly because of investments in nuclear energy. This is linked to the construction of new units at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, the development of small modular reactors and the modernisation of existing power plants. The company will also focus on recruiting specialists in distribution, renewable energy, technologies for energy savings and the digitalisation of operations. CEZ spokesperson Alice Horáková told the Czech News Agency (ČTK). The CEZ Group employs around 25.000 people in Czechia.

The company focuses on students, with around 450 participants taking part in its programmes and internships each year. It also works with a hundred secondary vocational and technical schools, grammar schools, university faculties and universities through tours, lectures, internships and scholarship programmes. For example, it runs summer universities at nuclear power plants, which nearly 1,200 university students have attended so far. Secondary school students can, for instance, take part in three-day specialised programmes focused on various areas of the energy sector.

CEZ is currently preparing to build two new nuclear reactors in Dukovany. In July, the government decided that they should be built by South Korean company KHNP, which won the tender. The cabinet chose it over French company EDF. The first of the new reactors in Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036. Westinghouse also originally took part in the tender, but the government did not invite it to the next stage of the competition at the beginning of the year. It said the first US bid did not meet the requirements. EDF and Westinghouse challenged the tender results with the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS).

CEZ will also select a partner by the end of this year to develop and operate modular reactors in Czechia. It is choosing between Westinghouse, GE Hitachi and Rolls-Royce. The partially state-owned company plans to build up to ten smaller modular reactors in Czechia by 2050, with a combined capacity of three gigawatts. The existing conventional Czech power plants at Dukovany and Temelín each have a capacity of about two gigawatts.