CEZ obtains permit to add new unit to Dukovany nuke plant

Prague, March 8 (CTK) - Elektrarna Dukovany II (EDU II), a subsidiary of Czech state-run power utility CEZ, obtained a permit from watchdog State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) today to place a new nuclear unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz told CTK.

It is one of the most important preparatory steps before the launch of construction and the selection of a contractor. The preparation of documentation for the licensing procedure took five years and involved over 200 expert studies and analyses, CEZ said.

A team of SUJB inspectors worked with specialists from the National Radio Protection Institute and other experts. The administrative proceedings took nearly 12 months, SUJB said on its website.

"No facts preventing the issuance of the permit were revealed during the evaluation," SUJB head Dana Drabova said.

The documentation includes a description of the locality and an assessment of its suitability for a new nuclear source, including the assessment of natural conditions, the project concept and the impact of the unit's operation on residents and environment, CEZ noted.

The permit has been issued for two units, each with a pressurised water reactor of maximum capacity of 1,200 megawatts (MWe), CEZ said.

"The permission concerns two nuclear units, but we are currently planning one unit with a capacity of up to 1,200 MWe. We have been preparing the documentation since 2015 in line with this plan, and it enables us to take into account potential further energy and climate goals in the future," EDU II CEO Petr Zavodsky said.

The Czech government approved the model of funding the new nuclear unit worth EUR6bn (roughly Kc162bn) last year. Potential candidates in the tender of suppliers include Russia's Rosatom, China's CGN, US firm Westinghouse, France's EdF and South Korea's KHNP.

Government representatives and opposition parties' leaders agreed in late January that a Chinese bidder would not probably take part in the tender.

Industry Minister Karel Havlicek said none of Czech political parties could imagine China as the main contractor for the new unit. China subsequently expressed its concern about its potential exclusion from the tender.

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