Czech ministry issues zoning decision for two new nuclear units at Dukovany

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) has issued a zoning decision for new nuclear units at Dukovany. The decision should enable the construction of up to two new reactors. According to the ministry, it is a signal to all bidders for the construction of the new unit, who are due to submit their final bids by Tuesday. The ministry announced this today in a press release. The first new unit is expected to be completed by 2036.

According to the ministry, the decision issued is in line with the application and documentation submitted by ČEZ subsidiary Elektrárna Dukovany II in June 2021. It concerns two new nuclear facilities at Dukovany, as envisaged by the updated State Energy Policy.

According to the ministry, given the importance of the project and the scope of the documentation, it was one of the most demanding administrative proceedings the authority has handled to date. “Immediately after receiving the documentation, we devoted intensive attention to reviewing all the materials and annexes. We used the maximum available capacity of our experts to deal with the application so that we could issue the decision within a reasonable timeframe,” said Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (STAN).

For ČEZ, the decision means it can proceed with further licensing and permitting procedures. “With this step, we have successfully met another milestone in the preparation schedule. At the same time, it is a clear signal to all bidders in the ongoing tender for the construction of new nuclear facilities that the permitting process is progressing,” ČEZ Chairman of the Board and CEO Daniel Beneš said today.

The company had previously also obtained a favourable environmental impact assessment (EIA) opinion, a permit to site a nuclear facility from the State Office for Nuclear Safety, and authorisation from the MPO to build a nuclear power plant.

The state launched a tender last year for the construction of one new unit at Dukovany for now. In autumn last year, French company EDF, South Korea’s KHNP and North American company Westinghouse submitted their initial bids. ČEZ, which is responsible for the tender, subsequently held clarification talks with the interested parties, discussing the tender conditions and details of their bids. It then invited them to submit final bids. The deadline for submission expires on Tuesday. Once it has received the final bids, ČEZ will evaluate them and submit an evaluation report to the government for approval.

Along with the bids to build the new Dukovany reactor last year, ČEZ also received non-binding offers for options on an additional unit at Dukovany and the construction of the third and fourth units at Temelín. ČEZ and the state have previously acknowledged that further nuclear power units will most likely need to be completed in the future to cover electricity consumption in Czechia.

Czechia currently has six nuclear units at two power plants. Two units, each with a capacity of approximately 1,000 megawatts (MW), are at Temelín in South Bohemia. Four smaller units with a capacity of 510 MW are located at Dukovany in the Třebíč region. In addition to new conventional reactors, ČEZ is also preparing to build small modular reactors. The first of these is expected to be built at Temelín.