Vladimír Wagner: No point waiting for SMRs. We need new units at Czech Dukovany and Temelín as soon as possible

For the transition to low-emission energy to be effective, new units at Dukovany and Temelín must obtain construction permits before 2045. The proposed European taxonomy of sustainable investments therefore does not fundamentally restrict nuclear construction in Czechia.

The proposed European taxonomy of sustainable investments also includes conditions for the construction of new nuclear power plants and the operation of existing ones. How will the new conditions affect the construction and operation of nuclear facilities in Czechia? We asked nuclear physicist Vladimír Wagner.

According to Hospodářské noviny, the Czech response to the proposed taxonomy of sustainable investments includes a request to extend the operation of nuclear power plants beyond the deadlines proposed by the European Commission. How likely is the Commission to accept this proposal?

First, we need to clarify what the taxonomy actually means in practice. It is not a ban on particular energy sectors, such as nuclear energy or gas. It concerns rules for financing investments in these sources through subsidies. At the same time, in the form of recommendations—which can nevertheless be very strict in the European Union—it also concerns rules for the provision of loans and support by not only public but also private banks and other institutions. I would also like to point out that no taxonomy, legal rule or law is immutable. Nor is it true that declared commitments will necessarily be fulfilled. The only things that strictly apply and cannot be exceeded are the laws of nature, which limit the potential of individual technologies. Let us recall that Sweden voted in a referendum in the 1980s and enshrined in law the closure of all nuclear units by 2010. Yet it still makes intensive use of nuclear energy and is planning new units. It simply changed the laws approved earlier. It is hard to imagine that, in a situation where it becomes clear that we cannot do without nuclear power and gas, or even coal, and there is a threat of energy shortages and social decline, some taxonomy would stand in the way of using these sources.