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Zoning permit issued for new Dukovany nuclear units

Monday, 30 October 2023

The application for a zoning decision for up to two new nuclear power units at Dukovany in the Czech Republic was submitted in 2021 and ČEZ says the approval by the Ministry of Industry and Trade is a "key milestone".

Zoning permit issued for new Dukovany nuclear units — There are currently four VVER-440 units at Dukovany (Image: CEZ)

The permit application was submitted in June 2021 to the Construction Department of the Municipal Office in Třebíč and ČEZ said that there had been six deadline extensions requested by the department before a change in the country's Building Act led to the administrative proceedings being transferred to the Ministry of Industry and Trade in July 2022.

Tomáš Pleskač, Director of ČEZ's New Energy Division, said: "The complex authorisation process of the new nuclear power plant project at Dukovany, one of the largest projects in Czech history, has advanced to the next stage. The issuance of the current decision is a significant step forward in the project. We have already received a positive opinion on the Environmental Impact Assessment and a permit for locating the nuclear power plant from the State Office for Nuclear Safety and authorisation for constructing the nuclear power plant from the Ministry of Industry and Trade."

Daniel Beneš, Chairman and CEO of ČEZ, said: "This step marks the successful completion of another milestone in the preparation schedule. At the same time, it is also a clear signal to all bidders in the current tender for the construction of new nuclear power plants that the permitting process is being implemented."

The issuance of the zoning permit comes the day before the deadline for submission of final bids from US company Westinghouse, France's EDF and South Korea's Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power for a new unit, which is due to be built next to the existing power plant and will replace part of its output in the future.

Four VVER-440 units are currently in operation at the Dukovany site, which began operating between 1985 and 1987. Two VVER-1000 units are in operation at Temelín, which came into operation in 2000 and 2002. Past Czech energy policy has proposed two new units at each of the two existing sites. There are also developing plans for small modular reactors in the country in an area near the existing Temelín plant. The Czech Republic gets about 34% of its electricity from its nuclear power plants.