The Czech Republic is advancing its nuclear energy initiatives by developing two new reactors at the Dukovany power plant, in what is a $19 billion investment.
Mobile drilling rigs are conducting geological surveys and extracting samples from 140 meters from beneath the ground.
This mission would double the Czech Republic’s nuclear output.
In comparison, Germany shut down its last nuclear reactor in 2023. Belgium and Sweden intended to do the same, but are now reconsidering, with Denmark and Italy also recalibrating their options in this regard.
Meanwhile, France is the biggest producer of nuclear power in Europe.
Poland has its own plans for a diverse nuclear power portfolio, which it is developing within a club of 12 nuclear nations in the European Union, in a deal with the USA.
A bid between South Korea (KHNP – Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power) and France (EDF – Électricité de France) gave KHNP the right to construct a new plant at Dukovany whose two reactors will have an output of over 1,000 megawatts each.
After becoming operational in the second half of the 2030s, these will complement Dukovany’s four 512-MW reactors, which date back to the 1980s.
What’s more, the deal offers an option for two more units built at the other nuclear plant in Temelín, which currently has two 1,000-megawatt reactors.
This would be followed by small modular nuclear reactors.
“Nuclear will generate between 50% and 60% around 2050 in the Czech Republic, or maybe slightly more,” Petr Závodský, chief executive of the Dukovany project, told the AP.
While nuclear power does produce waste, it does not produce greenhouse gas emissions, and is therefore accepted as an environmentally sustainable economic activity by the European Union, which is encouraging to wean its countries off of fossil fuels and thus cut carbon pollution.
In May, Donald Trump signed an executive order that reduced regulations and expedited the approval process for new nuclear licenses, in the hope that this would boost domestic production. But in Europe, regulation approval takes three times as long.
Large data centre operators are investing in nuclear power, which could support the energy needs of AI facilities.
