Czechs collaborate with Rolls-Royce on advanced small nuclear reactor project

The Czech government said Wednesday it endorsed Britain's Rolls-Royce as a partner for the state-owned power group CEZ to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMR).

The Czech Republic depends on CEZ's two nuclear plants for 30 percent of its electricity generation.

"The government has acknowledged and endorsed the partnership with Rolls-Royce SMR," Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reporters.

Prague does not want to buy SMRs but to enable Czech companies to develop and produce them, he added.

"This is what the strategic cooperation with Rolls-Royce enables," said Fiala, adding the first Czech SMR could be built in the first half of the 2030s.

CEZ, which runs nuclear plants in the southern villages of Temelin and Dukovany, is planning to install the first SMR at Temelin.

Other bidders for the partnership included US giant Westinghouse, the US-Japanese grouping GE Hitachi and France's EDF.

CEZ said earlier it was planning to install up to 10 small modular reactors by 2050.

Compared with conventional nuclear reactors, the SMRs are relatively simple to build, as their systems and components can be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation.

They are also more affordable than large power reactors and bear low risk of a serious accident.

In July, CEZ announced it had chosen South Korean power giant KHNP to build two conventional nuclear units at a cost of almost nine billion dollars at Dukovany.

The new units will raise the share of nuclear energy to half as coal-fired power stations are gradually phased out as part of a shift towards greener energy resources.

The government expects the first new KHNP reactor to be launched in trial operation in 2036.