Country profile: Czech Republic

Summary figures for 2011

The following information is from the NEA publication Nuclear Energy Data, the annual compilation of official statistics and country reports on nuclear energy in OECD member countries.

Country
Number of nuclear power plants connected to the grid
Nuclear electricity generation
(net TWh) 2011
Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply
Czech Republic
6
26.7
33.0
  
OECD Europe
135
858.4
24.7
  
Total
329
2049.5
20.7
  

Country report

Discussion about the update of the State Energy Concept continued in 2011. The Czech uranium mine Dolni Rozinka has remained in operation in 2012. Uranium production from the mine was 202.3 tU and from environmental remediation of closed ISL fields was 26.5 tU in 2011.

The tender for the construction of two nuclear units at site Temelin continues. Three potential suppliers received the tender documents. Bids are expected by 2 July 2012.

A higher consumption of uranium/conversion/enrichment and fabrication in 2010 and 2011 was caused by replacement of the entire reactor cores at Temelin unit 1 and unit 2, respectively, with fuel assemblies supplied by a new fabricator - Russian company JSC TVEL.

Implementation of plans to upgrade the Dukovany and Temelin units is under way, so that the capacity of the Dukovany NPP should reach 2 000 MWe gross in 2012 and 2 040 MWe after 2015, with the Temelin NPP reaching 2 050 MWe in 2015.

There are three changes in the projection of the long-term nuclear generation capacities in comparison with the 2011 report:

  1. a 40-year lifespan is now considered for the Dukovany NPP instead of the previously considered 50 years for the 2035 high case; this is reflected in the decrease in generation capacity and uranium needs;
  2. two new units at the Temelin site are assumed to be put into operation in about 2023-2025; and
  3. one additional unit at the Dukovany site is assumed to be put into operation in 2030-2031. All these changes are reflected also in the changing pace of increase in spent fuel for the period 2025-2030 and onwards.

Note: The substantial increase in the total quantity of stored spent fuel was caused mainly by the replacement of entire cores at Temelin unit 1 and unit 2 by fuel from the new supplier (JSC TVEL) in 2010-2011. Of the total spent fuel in storage at the end of 2011 (1 557 tHM), 844 tHM are in dry interim storage at the Dukovany and Temelin sites and 713 tHM were placed in spent fuel pools at both sites.

Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2012

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Last reviewed: 7 October 2011