CEZ to hire 2,600 new nuclear energy staff in next 10 years

Prague/Temelin, South Bohemia, Jan 25 (CTK) - Semi-state energy group CEZ plans to hire about 2,600 new staff over the next 10 years to work in the existing nuclear power plants and in teams that prepare new nuclear units, CEZ's spokeswoman Alice Horakova told CTK.

Currently, the group has around 2,900 employees working in nuclear energy. In Czechia, CEZ employs over 22,700 people in total.

Last year, company CEZ, a.s. hired a total of 1,212 new employees, which is similar to its 2021 recruitment. Every sixth new employee went to work in nuclear energy.

Compared to 2021, female recruitment rose in the nuclear section, with women accounting for 11 percent of new nuclear power plant staff and 30 percent in companies Dukovany II and Temelin II.

Furthermore, hundreds of new employees were hired to work in customer services, that is the sales division.

This year, CEZ plans to recruit nearly 100 people in the Temelin nuclear power plant, the plant's spokesman Marek Svitak said in a press release. Having hired 78 workers in 2022, Temelin has a staff of 1,350.

CEZ is currently preparing construction of a new unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant. At the end of last year, it received bids from French company EDF, US company Westinghouse and South Korean company KHNP. The new unit should be completed by 2036.

CEZ is also planning to build the first small modular reactor in Czechia. The reactor should be constructed in Temelin in the first half of the next decade.

At the same time, the company is selecting sites for other modular units. Small modular reactors are almost as big as the nuclear units at Dukovany but are easier and faster to build than large nuclear reactors, according to CEZ.

hja/er/hel