Hollywood filmmakers would not be ashamed of such backdrops. A special safe room equipped to prevent eavesdropping, where you are not allowed even with your own pencil, let alone a mobile phone. All electronic communication using special encryption with specially secured storage.
But this is not a spy film or film studios. It is precisely such security measures that accompany the largest and most expensive contract in the history of the Czech Republic – completion of one to four nuclear reactors in Dukovany and Temelín. On the last day of April, the competition entered its final phase. Both companies applying for the completion (French EdF and South Korean KHNP), submitted the final offer to ČEZ, including the price. On the same day, a “stamp” arrived from Brussels that the government could lend money to ČEZ, or rather to its company Elektrárna Dukovany II, for the construction of the new Dukovany unit. And it can also guarantee the purchase price of electricity from this block. By June, ČEZ will submit a recommendation to the government as to which offer is more advantageous. It is up to the government of Petr Fiala whether to follow the recommendations of experts. However, if she rejects the offer with the best price, she risks a lawsuit from the unsuccessful participant and the European Commission. The new block in Dukovany is to be built in 2036.
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It’s a lot. One block costs an estimated 200 to 250 billion crowns at today’s prices. According to experts, the higher amount is valid for the construction of one block, the lower for the construction of up to four. At stake is a figure of up to a trillion crowns. And since almost all nuclear power plants now being built have been delayed and more expensive, let’s hope for the better and expect the worse.
There are basically three risks and, unfortunately, they can all occur, or overlap at different historical stages: The government and the construction investor, the supplier company may fail, and in the end we may even come to the realization that we no longer need large nuclear sources, because renewable sources (solar and wind) in the meantime acquired batteries with such a capacity that they will also sustain the continuous supply of the heavily industrialized Czech Republic for the entire calendar year. It sounds like science fiction with those flashlights today, but you can’t stop progress, so we won’t be surprised around 2050. In the same way, the development of small modular nuclear reactors, which could be located in the locations of existing coal-fired power plants, continues. But even that is just a vision for now, because only the mass production of small “nuclear cars” can lower the costs of their construction and operation.
So back to the present. We are in 2024, just before the selection of the supplier, and the main responsibility lies with the government. In our energy mix today, the core makes up about 36 percent. Around 2050, when Europe is supposed to be emission-free, this share should be half, and roughly half of the energy should be produced by renewable sources. The conditional “had and should” is important. We don’t have a plan.
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Babiš’s government was supposed to update the State Energy Concept, but did not do so. Violet’s cabinet he promised to fix it, but nothing is approved in the middle of the term. It was only in February this year that the Ministry of Industry and Trade sent a proposal for comments. That in the Czech Republic energy is approached carelessly and actually only under pressure (see the crisis after Russia’s attack on Ukraine), confirms i current tender for Dukovany. We originally announced a competition for one Dukovany block and only during the process did we ask the companies if they would give us a quantity discount. It seems amateurish, we don’t know what we want. And we haven’t kicked that into the ground yet. Because when we kick in, purely practical problems will appear. For example, about five thousand people are needed to build a new block, of which 1,500 work directly on the construction site. Do we have people and a place for them to live? Do we have modified roads or railways to transport giant components such as turbines, reactor vessels and other “little things” to the site? When such things start to be solved on the fly, the construction will start to be delayed, and therefore more expensive.
Much has changed since the construction of Dukovan in the 1980s and Temelín in the 1990s. Safety and environmental regulations are much stricter today after the tragedy in Fukushima, Japan. And let’s remind you that the South Bohemian power plant was also getting very late. Construction actually started in 1987, and the first block was supposed to be completed in 1992. We know how it turned out – instead of four blocks, we only have two, and the ribbon was cut only in 2002, and that with all the effort.
Related to this is the risk of how much the French or South Koreans will be able to outsource the construction itself. Both companies will have to offer a tailor-made reactor for Dukovany, it will not be possible to use their catalog pieces. Among other things, because we don’t have a sea and our Dalešická dam near Dukovan is not able to cool any big “beast”. As for the South Koreans, they have completed the construction of 25 reactors at home and are just completing a project in the United Arab Emirates. So far on time, but they have no experience of Europe, where there is a huge bureaucracy and different, tougher rules apply. However, the Koreans stand for the first European order and it can be assumed that they will be the ones who want to win the Czech tender by pushing for the lowest possible price. He also owns the Pilsen turbine manufacturer Doosan. On the other hand, the French have 56 reactors behind them and they know very well how badly they are building in Europe. Their construction of two units of the Hinkley Point C power plant in Great Britain is gaining ground. Instead of 2027, it looks set to launch in 2030, and the original price has risen by 500 million to 23 billion pounds. In the Czech environment, the fact that they are already participating in the servicing of our power plants or that they are trying to establish strong political and business ties will play into the hands of the French, as evidenced by the recent visit of President Macron in Prague. In the case of a tender for the Dukovany block, however, geopolitical interests must be put aside. EU rules and our law on public procurement are clear: in order for the government to finance the construction with a loan, it must choose the cheapest option.
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No matter when the nuclear tender wins, it won’t be our wallets. The core is a good choice for the industrial Czech Republic, but it is now expensive against renewable (albeit unstable) sources. Building up to four reactors in short succession is now too risky in my opinion. Especially in a situation where there is hope for small modular reactors. In the same way, the guaranteed purchase price (which would be based on the so-called spot prices) may in the future bring huge costs to the state budget and indirectly to people and companies. Now we are still in a luxury position. We invest in energy savings and are an exporter of electricity with a slight surplus, but this will change after the decline of coal in 2030.
Therefore, let’s build one Dukovan block and let’s hope that in the meantime, scientists will answer many questions about where energy will go in the coming years.
