Nuclear power in the Czech Republic

[1] In 1956 a decision was made to build the first nuclear power station in Czechoslovakia, in Jaslovské Bohunice (western Slovakia).

[citation needed] In 1970 an agreement with the Soviet Union was made to build two power stations of the VVER reactor design.

The ČEZ does not believe reprocessing is economical,[citation needed] and stores spent fuel until the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (RAWRA) assumes responsibility for it.

[6] The Czech Energy Policy of 2004 envisaged building two or more large reactors to replace Dukovany power plant after 2020.

[1] In October 2023, Westinghouse with an AP1000, EDF with an EPR1200 and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) with an APR1000 submitted binding bids for a fifth unit at Dukovany.

However in August, the Czech competition authority stated that Westinghouse and EDF had asked for a review of the tender process.

The power station required an area of 150 hectares and was to have two or four VVER-1000 reactors, producing 1000 MWe each and also providing heating for the Hradec Králové-Pardubice agglomeration, and for Prague (using a 67 km long steam pipeline).

[12] Nuclear waste produced by the power stations and the other smaller reactors in the country is exported to Russia (or the Soviet Union before 1991), who supply the enriched uranium.

[citation needed] Several villages organized referendums against planned waste storage and regional governments have tried to put up legal and administrative obstacles to new stations.

[citation needed] In 2008, a poll found that 64 % of Czechs agree with the use of nuclear power, the highest level of support of the 27 EU countries surveyed, alongside Lithuania.