ČEZ seeks environmental impact assessment for modular reactor in Temelín, Czechia

Energy company ČEZ today submitted an application for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the construction of a small modular reactor at Temelín. The planned unit, with one or two reactors, is to have a capacity of up to 500 MW. Its expected lifetime is 60 to 80 years, according to the document, cited by the Hospodářské noviny website.

According to the documentation, construction is expected to begin in 2029 and finish five years later. The documentation does not make clear who might build the new nuclear facility at Temelín. „The power plant supplier will be selected in later stages of project preparation,“ ČEZ says. It mentions four possible types of small modular reactors, from Rolls-Royce, GE Hitachi, EDF and Westinghouse.

The unit with a small modular reactor is to be built southwest of the existing Temelín nuclear power plant site. ČEZ expects that up to 300 employees will be needed to operate and maintain the unit under normal operating conditions.

ČEZ has previously announced plans to build modular reactors with a combined capacity of three gigawatts by 2050. The existing power plants at Dukovany and Temelín each have a capacity of about two gigawatts. According to an earlier statement by ČEZ, modular reactors are intended primarily to supply heat and could be built, for example, on the sites of current coal-fired power plants, such as Prunéřov or Dětmarovice.

At the end of October, ČEZ signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Rolls-Royce SMR on the development of modular reactors. It will buy an approximately 20% stake in the British company, for which it will pay several billion crowns. The cooperation, planned to span several decades, envisages ČEZ directly contributing to the development of the new modular reactor technology and its manufacture on a global scale. This will therefore involve more than simply purchasing or supplying finished units.