Move part of efforts to diversify supply away from Russia
Czech state power company ČEZ has been given approval to use nuclear fuel supplied by the US company Westinghouse at the Temelín nuclear power station.
The new fuel assemblies are to be loaded into the Unit 1 reactor for the first time later this year.
The Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB) said it has authorised ČEZ to use the fuel, which is scheduled to be loaded during a planned shutdown of Unit 1 at the end of 2026.
According to ČEZ, the approval followed several years of preparations, testing and safety analyses. Over a period of almost two years, experts examined, among other things, the fuel’s behaviour during normal operation, its compatibility with the reactor, and the requirements for its handling and storage.
“This is another important step towards strengthening the Czech Republic’s energy security and diversifying nuclear fuel suppliers,” said Daniel Beneš, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of the ČEZ Group.
He added that the company also maintains strategic fuel reserves at both Czech nuclear power stations – Temelín and Dukovany.
ČEZ began work to diversify its nuclear fuel supply in 2018, signing a contract for the supply of fuel assemblies for Temelín with Westinghouse, and with France's Framatome, in 2022.
The diversification of nuclear fuel suppliers is seen as essential to increasing energy security among European Union countries previously using Russia’s state-controlled Tvel for fuel for their VVER reactors, which were designed in the Soviet era.
Unit 1 at Temelín is a 1,027-MW VVER V-320 pressurised water reactor unit that began commercial operation in 2002.
The Temelín nuclear power station in the Czech Republic. Photo courtesy ČEZ.
