Czech Republic

Nuclear superpower at heart of Europe

Published on 8 September 2011 at 13:17

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At a time when several European countries are rethinking the nuclear option, the Czech Republic is poised to become a "superpower" in atomic energy. "The state wants to build new nuclear plants," leads Hospodářské noviny on learning of the proposal from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to boost the production of electricity from nuclear power by a factor of five between now and 2060. The share of nuclear energy in electrical power generation in the country will thus go up from the approximately 30 percent currently (put out by the Temelin and Dukovany plants) to over 80 percent in 50 years. According to the Ministry project, nuclear power should replace coal and reduce dependence on oil and gas imported from Russia. Will the Czech Republic turn into "the heart of Nuclear Europe?" asks the Prague paper. This new plan, it explains, is radically opposed to that of Germany, which following the catastrophe of Fukushima in Japan decided to give up on nuclear by 2022 and focus on renewable energy.

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