Nuclear Energy

New publication "Small Modular Reactors for the Czech Market: An update - 2024" analyses the current state of the field of small and medium-sized modular reactors (SMRs) and builds upon the unique study "Prospects for Small Modular Reactors in the Czech Republic", published in 2023. The author is Emeritus Professor Stephen Thomas from University of Greenwich, London. Edvard Sequens, the energy expert from Czech organization Calla, authored a chapter on the situation in the Czech Republic as the Czech largest energy company ČEZ established a strategic partnership with the British company Rolls-Royce in 2024 and companies such as Sokolovská uhelná and Orlen have expressed interest in SMRs, too.

Hopes were high for a progressive turnaround after the populist previous government of Andrej Babiš. What is the balance sheet of the first steps of the new Czech government?

In this interview, the green Hungarian politician Benedek Jávor explains the history of Paks II, the controversial Hungarian-Russian deal to expand the four nuclear power plant units in the southern Hungarian town of Paks by adding two more units.

At first glance, it might seem that the Czech climate movement can put the flags out. A government bill on measures for the Czech Republic’s transition to a low-carbon energy industry has been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies and is being debated rapidly in extraordinary sessions. The title of the bill may evoke the anti-fossil law which was urged by Czech environmental organizations in the “Great Challenge” (“Velká výzva”) campaign for years. Nevertheless, as we learn in one of the bill’s introductory articles, the Definition of Terms, a low-carbon electricity generating plant for the purpose of this law means one with a nuclear reactor. The rapid reduction of risks related to global climate change is obviously not the real goal of this bill.