Modernisation of Dukovany turbine halls planned

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

The project aims to bring together the possible replacement of turbine parts with other planned activities such as the proposed district heating scheme for Brno.

Roman Havlín, director of the Dukovany power plant, said: "After 40 years of operation, we need to renew some parts of the secondary circuit and we need to have a long-term supply of spare parts. And given the progress in turbine development, there is an opportunity for modernisation, which can bring a further increase in performance."

Bohdan Zronek, director of ČEZ's nuclear energy division, said: "For existing nuclear power plants, this is one of the largest projects being prepared. We always have to assess the benefits and costs very carefully; the project simply has to pay off. That is why the preparation is so demanding."

The aim is to have drawn up the potential scope and costs of the project by the end of 2026, with the goal of any modernisation work beginning in 2030.

In previous years, modernisation and other measures have led to the output being increased from the original 440 MWe for each of the units to 512 MWe. Taken together that increase in output is roughly comparable with the output from a typical small modular reactor.

ČEZ and municipal heating company Teplárny Brno signed agreements last year relating to a 42-kilometre heating pipeline from the Dukovany nuclear power plant that aims to benefit 250,000 people in the city of Brno.

Four VVER-440 units are currently in operation at the Dukovany site, which began operating between 1985 and 1987. A CZK407 billion (USD18.6 billion) contract was signed with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power last month for two of its APR1000 reactors near the existing Dukovany units. The aim is to start construction in 2029.