PM ready to back a fifth reactor at Dukovany nuclear power plant

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has said he would be prepared to back the construction of a fifth reactor at the Dukovany nuclear power plant in southern Moravia. On a visit to Třebíč on Monday the prime minister said he would bring the matter up within the ongoing debate on the government’s long-term energy strategy. Dukovany has a licence to operate its four nuclear reactors until 2015 and plans to ask for an extension until 2025 and eventually 2035. A newly-built reactor could produce energy for another 60 years. Meanwhile the expansion of the Temelín nuclear power plant in south Bohemia from the present two to four reactors looks increasingly uncertain.