Temelín - Should the plans of the Czech energy industry giant ČEZ to build additional reactors for the Temelín nuclear power plant be implemented, it will mean more energy for the country. But more nuclear waste as well.
According to Czech Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (SÚRAO), this will not cause any problems. The institution is in charge of building a repository for radioactive waste produced by Temelín and Dukovany plants.
Safe deposit box for 100,000 years
Allegedly, the repository will be able to store even the increased quantity of waste and is expected to have the capacity for waste storage for another 100,000 years. Moreover, it can be extended, says SÚRAO Director Vítězslav Duda.
Temelín and Dukovany are expected to produce roughly 4,000 tons of waste, and all of it will be stored underground.
"If it is 6,000 tons instead of 4,000, there is not a big difference," Duda claims, adding that the waste can be deposited in two layers.
There is a possibility to transform the waste in the future, says Duda, which will result in a radical decrease of nuclear waste to be stored.
Opposition of the locals
However, inhabitants in six localities where repositories are to be built oppose the idea of having nuclear waste deposited at their doorstep.
In response, the SÚRAO suspended all construction work until 2009, focusing more on persuading people to allow them to inspect the grounds.
Up to this moment, though, only three municipalities in Lubenec area, western Bohemia, have agreed to this. The mayors also set a condition that the inspection be performed in all six localities.
The SÚRAO authorities plan to use those who don't oppose the plan to persuade the others. They are even ready to pay them several thousand crowns a month.
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SÚRAO should reduce the number of candidate localities from six to two by 2015. Though due to the unpopularity of the plan, it appears they will not make it in time - according to Duda, this is not a problem either.
Repository to be operational in 2065
"We have 20 years to resolve all the pending issues," says Duda.
The repository is supposed to be ready for waste storage in 2065. Until then, the waste will be stored in the plants' surroundings.
The repositories are expected to cost CZK 47 billion (EUR 2 billion) and are going to be financed mostly by ČEZ that forwards 0.50 hellers from each kilowatt sold to a special bank account. At the end of last year, there were more than CZK 10 billion collected.
