Planned Dukovany expansion resulting in ‘positive media coverage’
The Czech public continues to back the growth of nuclear power generation in the country as a way to help maintain energy independence, an Ipsos poll showed.
The poll, commissioned by state utility company ČEZ, showed 77% of the country’s citizens supported its development, and that 93% agreed that the Czech Republic should aspire to be self-sufficient in terms of electricity production.
The poll showed the principal reasons behind the public’s support of nuclear development were economic savings, environmental issues and strengthening the country’s energy independence.
Ipsos said the results in part reflected positive media coverage of nuclear in the country, in particular due to the planned expansion of the Dukovany nuclear power plant.
In October, the Czech Republic applied to the European Commission for the approval of state aid to back the construction of two new reactor units at Dukovany.
The government plans to build two new large-scale APR1000 pressurised water reactor units at Dukovany, in the south of the country about 50 km from the border with Austria.
The reactors will be supplied by South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power under a contract signed earlier this year.
The poll also showed that over half of Czechs backed the use of nuclear power for its electricity production over renewables, although the majority also saw the combination of nuclear and renewable sources as being ideal.
“Demand for energy self-sufficiency has been very strong in the Czech Republic for a long time,” said Michal Straka, Ipsos consultant for energy research.
“This opinion strengthened after the start of the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis. The public recognises that nuclear power plants play an irreplaceable role in energy self-sufficiency.”
The Czech Republic has six commercially operational reactor units: four Russia-designed VVER-440 units at Dukovany and two larger VVER-1000 units at Temelín.
