Czech Republic selects two more sites for small nuclear reactors

The Czech Republic has signed a deal with Britain's Rolls-Royce to prepare small modular nuclear reactors at two locations, Energy Minister Karel Havlicek said. He said Rolls-Royce SMR and Czech state-run power company CEZ had agreed to begin preparations for reactors in Detmarovice and Tusimice.

Havlicek announced the deal on X and described it as an important step for the country's energy plans. He later told the Czech news agency CTK that other possible small modular reactor sites were also being prepared, including in the Moravian-Silesian and Usti nad Labem regions. He said nuclear energy was a key part of the Czech Republic's stable and secure energy future, and that small modular reactors would form part of it.

Rolls-Royce SMR and CEZ agreed in 2024 to develop and produce small modular reactors together. The first is expected to be installed at the Temelin nuclear plant in the Czech Republic around 2035. CEZ has previously said it plans to install up to 10 small modular reactors by 2050.

Small modular reactors are advanced nuclear reactors with power capacity of up to 300 megawatts of electricity per unit, about one third of a traditional nuclear power reactor's generating capacity. They are described as simpler to build than large power reactors, making them more affordable.

The Czech Republic, an EU member with 10.9 million people, gets 40 percent of its electricity consumption from nuclear power produced at the Temelin and Dukovany plants in the south of the country. CEZ has also chosen South Korean power company KHNP to build two conventional nuclear units at Dukovany at a cost of almost $9 billion. With those units and small modular reactors, nuclear power's share is expected to rise to 50 percent as the country moves away from fossil fuels.