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(ANSA-AFP) - PRAGUE, FEB 27 - The Czech state-run power group
CEZ said Monday it was planning to launch its first small
modular nuclear reactor (SMR) in a decade and another two by
2040. SMRs are being considered by several European countries
including Finland and Sweden, which are seeking to raise energy
output amid growing global demand for electricity. Global energy
prices have soared as Russia cut its energy exports in response
to sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. Compared with
conventional nuclear reactors, the SMRs are relatively simple to
build, as their systems and components can be factory-assembled
and transported as a unit to a location for installation. They
are also more affordable than large power reactors and bear low
risk of a serious accident. "The first one will be launched
around 2032 and the other two in the second half of the 2030s,"
CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz told AFP. (ANSA-AFP).
