Nuke plant Dukovany to use fuel from Westinghouse from autumn

Ceske Budejovice, South Bohemia, Feb 14 (CTK) - Nuclear power plant Dukovany will start using fuel from Westinghouse this autumn, with the US firm to deliver it by the end of the year, and nuclear power plant Temelin will start using it a few months later, energy group CEZ representatives told journalists today.

The power plants now use fuel from company TVEL which is part of the Russian state-run group Rosatom.

Semi-state CEZ, the plants' operator, decided to change the fuel supplier for Dukovany last March for security reasons related to the war in Ukraine.

Temelin tested six fuel assemblies from Westinghouse in the reactor of unit 1 in the year 2019 to verify their properties, and experts are now working with the results.

"At the end of this year, Westinghouse will bring fuel assemblies to Dukovany. We are currently completing the expansion of the storage facilities here," said Bohdan Zronek, a member of the board of directors and director of the nuclear power division at CEZ.

Dukovany and Temelin will use fuel from two suppliers for some time.

Diversification of fuel supplies is one of the important steps for further strengthening of the Czech Republic's energy security, CEZ's representatives said.

The Czech Republic currently has six nuclear units in two power plants.

Westinghouse plans to bring to Dukovany the latest version based on fuel assemblies designed for the VVER-440 reactors already in use at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, said Tarik Choho, President of Nuclear Fuel at Westinghouse.

CEZ began working to increase the number of suppliers at the end of the last decade. Following a tender launched in 2018, CEZ signed a contract with Westinghouse and Framatome from France to supply fuel assemblies for the Temelin plant in 2022. Subsequently, in 2023, it also concluded a contract with Westinghouse for Dukovany. TVEL has been supplying Dukovany with fuel for almost 40 years since the start of the plant's operation.

The four Dukovany units were gradually commissioned between 1985 and 1987. Since January 19, unit 3 has been in a planned outage. Outages of the other units are scheduled to start at the end of May, in mid-August and at the end of December.

Temelin, which has been in operation since 2000, plans one outage at each of its two units this year, in April and October.

Last year, Dukovany produced 14.3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, the 13th time its deliveries exceeded the 14 TWh production limit.

In 2023, Temelin surpassed the production limit of 16 TWh for the second consecutive year.

CEZ covers more than 40 percent of electricity consumption in the Czech Republic. By 2030, the company wants Temelin and Dukovany to produce a total of 32 TWh annually.

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