Skip to main content

Here Comes the Czech Republic

map_of_czech_republic

It does sometimes seem as though we have a scoreboard around here to tote up the countries that are warming up (or rewarming up) to nuclear energy. Obviously, concerns over CO2 emissions and nuclear energy's avoidance of them is the biggest motivator. The ability to scale up seems to be a factor, too, and gives nuclear a leg up on other emission-free energy generators.

So let's welcome the Czech Republic:

A letter in support of the further development of nuclear energy in the European Union has been signed by all 24 Czech Members of the European Parliament and published in the Czech press.

And here's what the letter says:

The letter said that "without nuclear energy as a vital component of a low-carbon energy mix the Community will not be able to meet its energy security, energy independence and CO2 emissions reduction goals." It said that the [European Nuclear Energy Forum] has "provided a much-needed endorsement of the pivotal role nuclear energy plays in the EU's current and future low-carbon economy" and "has, finally, put nuclear energy on an equal footing with other major energy sources."

We can only agree. The Czech Republic is treading carefully, though, because the current governing majority is a coalition that includes the Green Party and, as a condition of its participation, disdained nuclear energy. (The republic has nuclear plants now and had planned to expand them.)

However, senior government representatives, including prime minister Mirek Topolanek, as well as opposition parties, have since advocated nuclear energy.

No word in the article how the Greens feel about this, but there's at least a sense that the party is getting backed into a corner. We'll see how it goes: the Czechs are ready to go and the politics only need a bit more of push to catch up. We don't follow Czech politics enough to know what may occur - the Greens may relent or a new election might exclude them from the coalition - but the signs are good. Now, what are those Slovaks up to?

Comments

Matthew66 said…
I suspect there are a couple of things at play here. First and foremost, the Czech believes that nuclear power is an economical, nonpolluting method of generating electricity that taps into the strong intellectual capital of the Czech Republic. 2. The Czech government wants to earn a lot of Euros by exporting electricity to those parts of Europe like Germany, Italy and Austria that have moribund energy policies. 3. The Czech government loves sticking it to its former Imperial overlords in Vienna, especially now that Austria is a minor player in world politics.
Ondrej Chvala said…
Matthew66> right on the mark. For Czech Green Party the "no new nukes" is a religious position.

Some time ago NEI noticed this "movement": http://plarmy.org/zwentendorf/en

Perhaps it is worth repeating the link :)

Popular posts from this blog

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin