The Czech Republic‘s two nuclear power stations will fully switch from Russian to US fuel as of 2024, the state-owned operator CEZ power group said Wednesday.
The Temelin power station has been running on fuel from US-based Westinghouse since 2010, and the older Dukovany plant will switch to Westinghouse from Russia’s TVEL next year.
“After the war in Ukraine broke out last year, CEZ immediately started talks to find a new fuel supplier for security reasons,” CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz said in a statement.
He added CEZ and Westinghouse had signed a deal on the supplies to Dukovany on Wednesday.
Last May, CEZ signed a contract on fuel supplies to Temelin from 2024 with Westinghouse and France‘s Framatome.
Westinghouse is among three bidders — alongside France’s EDF and South Korea’s KHNP — to build a new reactor at Dukovany which CEZ expects to launch in 2036.
CEZ expects to sign a deal to build the reactor worth several billion euros with the selected bidder next year.
The two nuclear plants cover about one-third of the Czech Republic’s total power production.
