The contract is designed to ensure that the security interests of the state will be secured in the selection of the SMR suppliers. A similar process was included in the recent process of selecting a supplier for the new large units planned in the country.
Minister of Trade and Industry Jozef Síkela said: "Our efforts to develop nuclear energy in the Czech Republic are not limited to the successful tender for new units in Dukovany and the preparation of new sources for the Temelín location. Small and medium-sized reactors can be an integral part of the Czech Republic's future energy mix. They can provide citizens and companies not only with electricity, but also with heat, so they can replace ageing coal-fired facilities.
"The SMR construction programme also means a great opportunity for the Czech economy - the production of nuclear facilities is offered as well as substantial involvement into the supply chain, similar to large blocks. The contract we concluded with ?EZ will guarantee compliance with the security interests of the state during their development."
Daniel Beneš, Chairman and CEO of ?EZ, said: "The core represents a safe, stable, reliable and clean source of energy. Small and medium-sized modular reactors can suitably complement large ones in order to maintain the energy security and self-sufficiency of the Czech Republic."
?EZ plans its first SMR to be sited near the Temelin nuclear power plant site in South Bohemia, and is also looking at second and third sites for SMRs, including, the company said, "the power plants in Dětmarovice and Tušimice, which are now undergoing a series of intensive survey and monitoring works before it becomes definitively clear whether they are suitable for the location of a nuclear source".
The Czech Republic currently gets about one-third of its electricity from four VVER-440 units at Dukovany, which began operating between 1985 and 1987, and the two VVER-1000 units in operation at Temelín, which came into operation in 2000 and 2002. Last month Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) was named the preferred bidder for up to four new units at the two existing nuclear power plants, with the target of the first unit entering commercial operation in 2038. On Tuesday, Westinghouse and EDF, fellow bidders, asked the Czech competition authority to review the tender decision.
The Czech SMR roadmap was published and approved last year setting out options for technology suppliers and identifying a range of potential sites - 45 in total - as well as investor models. Its vision is for "SMRs to complement large nuclear untis from 2030s-40s onwards".
