CEZ completes first part of survey for small modular reactor at Temelin

Temelin, South Bohemia, Dec 2 (CTK) - Czech semi-state energy group CEZ has completed the first phase of geological surveys of the site at the Temelin nuclear power plant which it has earmarked for a small modular reactor, representatives of CEZ and the Inset company told journalists today.

The survey started in September and its results should be available in February next year. The Temelin site is most suitable for a small modular reactor, CEZ board chairman and new energy division head Tomas Pleskac said.

The small modular reactor at Temelin will be a pilot project in Czechia. It is planned to be completed in 2032-2035. The estimated costs of the construction have not been disclosed.

"The technologies will be groundbreaking. They are suitable for complementing large pressurized water reactors, especially at sites where coal-fired power plants will be closed and where there are gas-fired power plants," CEZ head Daniel Benes said earlier.

Small modular reactors are almost as big as the nuclear units at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, southern Moravia, but they are easier and faster to build than large nuclear reactors, according to Benes.

"I see this as a huge opportunity because the Czech Republic needs nuclear power, and it is not able to reduce emissions without it. These small modular reactors will be much cheaper and more flexible in the future," said South Bohemia's governor Martin Kuba, who has co-initiated the construction. He added he supposed new jobs would also be created.

CEZ has previously signed cooperation agreements with NuScale, GE Hitachi, Rolls Royce, EdF, KHNP and Holtec. It has also established cooperation on the construction of small modular reactors with US firm Westinghouse, which should offer a scaled-down model of a large nuclear unit.

Temelin is the only site so far approved for the construction of a small modular reactor, Kuba noted.

In the future, modular reactors could be installed in every major city that currently operates a heating plant or power station, Kuba said, adding that he would like to see operators of these reactors from all over Europe being trained in southern Bohemia.

tam/er