Aktualne: Czech Republic has no alternative to Russian nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants
Negotiations on a new package of anti-Russian sanctions are in full swing, Aktualne writes. Representatives of Ukraine raised the issue of nuclear energy, demanding that the EU completely abandon nuclear fuel from Russia. But the Czechs have no substitute for the Russian product.
Petra Jaroměřská
“The West continues to trade with Russia, buys Russian oil, which, of course, does not contribute to ending this conflict,” Yevhen Perebiynis, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister and former Ukrainian ambassador to the Czech Republic, complained in an interview with Czech Television in late August.
According to him, the sanctions are working, but “so far they have not dealt a decisive blow to the Russian economy.
“Such a level of sanctions undoubtedly exists, and we must plan such sanctions more decisively. We must impose sanctions against Russian nuclear energy, as it brings Russia a lot of money,” added Evgeny Perebiynis.
There are already talks about new sanctions in the field of energy, but as for the nuclear industry, it is still among the exceptions, and it was not discussed. But it is precisely in this area that the Czech Republic has, as they say, “a stigma in the fluff.” And although we are actively looking for alternative suppliers, it will not be possible to replace Russian nuclear fuel before 2028.
“We do not receive anything from the Russian Federation for Temelin NPP, but the situation is more complicated with Dukovany NPP, since no one except TVEL (a Russian supplier) has the necessary fuel on the world market. — Author’s note), did not offer. But even in this case, we managed to sign contracts for new supplies and abandon cooperation with TVEL by 2028,” Ladislav Krzyj, a spokesman for the CEZ company, told our portal.
Last year alone, the Czech Republic purchased a total of 7.9 million kronor worth of nuclear materials from Russia.
This year, imports from Russia have decreased significantly, and the Czech Republic has managed to stock up for the future. In addition, our country is already receiving fuel from the American company Westinghouse, which, together with the French, should completely replace the Russian supplier in three years.
The first proposals of the new sanctions list may appear in the coming days. The Czech Republic fully supports the idea of restricting the movement of Russian diplomats in the Schengen area. Representatives of our country have made such a proposal before, but have not yet received support.
Tomasz Kopecki, the government’s commissioner for Reconstruction of Ukraine, openly stated last week that anti-Russian sanctions are completely ineffective. According to him, the previous sanctions cause only “superficial wounds, but the arteries, vessels, and even more so the aorta of the Russian economy cannot be blocked.”
“The biggest hope is for American sanctions against those states that will trade Russian oil, that is, the one that is produced in Russia, and it doesn’t matter how this oil will be labeled later,” Kopechny said on Sunday on Czech Television.
“European states, of course, are still buying Russian oil, but under a different label,” Tomasz Kopecki added.
Tomasz Kopecki evaded a direct question about whether a ban on the purchase of Russian nuclear fuel was possible and only said that the most important thing was to focus on evading existing sanctions.
Recently, American President Donald Trump called on Europe to stop buying Russian oil.
