GEH said the agreement was the latest example of growing global interest in its SMR technology.
Daniel Beneš, chairman and chief executive officer of ČEZ said the company is already engaged with the development of SMRs, especially in its subsidiary ÚJV Řež. He said SMRs can be a significant alternative in the future that “we cannot ignore”.
Karel Havlíček, the Czech Republic’s industry minister, said SMRs can be the future of nuclear energy. He said: “Czech nuclear energy research has traditionally been one of the best in the world and the cooperation with GE Hitachi on the development of small modular reactors further confirms this position.”
ČEZ operates two nuclear power stations in the Czech Republic which generate about one-third of the country’s electricity. There are four units at Temelín and two at Dukovany.
The government plans to substitute aging coal plants with new nuclear build and renewables. A 2015 Czech state energy policy calls for one new unit at Dukovany and possibly three more either at Dukovany or Temelín.
The BWRX-300 is a 300 MW water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that uses the design and licensing basis of GEH’s US NRC-certified ESBWR, or Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor. Through dramatic design simplification, GEH projects the BWRX-300 will require significantly less capital cost per MW when compared to other water-cooled SMR designs or existing large nuclear reactor designs.
GEH announced last week it had officially begun the regulatory licensing process for the BWRX-300, a significant milestone in potentially commercialising the technology in the US as early as 2028.