Czech Temelín Nuclear Power Plant to Load US Nuclear Fuel by Year-End

On September 9, the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant in the southern Czech Republic will begin using nuclear fuel produced by the US company Westinghouse Electric Company (Westinghouse). Czech energy company ČEZ has obtained permission from the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety to use this type of fuel at the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant.

The Temelín Nuclear Power Plant has two units in total. According to the plan, Westinghouse nuclear fuel will be loaded into the reactor core during the outage and maintenance of Unit 1 at the end of this year.

The Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant, located in the southeastern Czech Republic, also plans to switch to Westinghouse fuel. Existing Czech nuclear power plants currently use Russian nuclear fuel, supplied by TVEL Fuel Company, a subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.

Both the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant and the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant were built with assistance from Moscow. The Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia signed the relevant agreement in 1970.