The Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant (NPP) near Dukovany, a village in the Czech Republic.

It was the first NPP in what is now the Czech Republic (the Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant in what is now Slovakia was constructed in 1958) and is situated 30 km from the city of Třebíč, near Dalešice Dam, where the NPP sources its water supply. In 1970 Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union ratified a contract for construction of two NPPs. Actual construction work began four years later. From 1985 to 1987, four power units with pressurized water reactors were commissioned. All four are still in operation.

In 1994, a tourist centre was opened at the site.

Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant is owned and operated by CEZ Group. CEZ recently tendered for new reactor construction, including an option for building a fifth reactor block at Dukovany. The winner of the tender will be declared in 2011.

Technical data

The Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant has four reactors. As of May 2009 CEZ reported turbine generator output (gross capacity) as listed below. Net capacity is a baseline estimate only.

Unit Type Net capacity Gross capacity Initial criticality Grid date
1 VVER 440/V213 >427 MWe 464 MWe Feb 1985 Aug 1985
2 VVER 440/V213 >427 MWe 466 MWe Jan 1986 Sep 1986
3 VVER 440/V213 >427 MWe 502 MWe Oct 1986 May 1987
4 VVER 440/V213 >427 MWe 465 MWe Jun 1987 Dec 1987

In 2005, Unit 3 was upgraded to 456 MWe gross capacity, and the same upgrade was made to Unit 1 and Unit 4 in 2007. Unit 3 was further upgraded in 2009 to 500MWe. In total an extra 240 MWe of capacity has been or will be added before 2013 in a comprehensive program of improvements including steam plant replacement, addition of instrumentation and fuel changes.

Cooling Towers

Dukovany Nuclear Power Station has 8 cooling towers, each 125 metres tall.

Meteorological Tower

West of the facility at 49°5'42.89"N, 16°8'5.44"E, there is a 136 metre tall guyed tower for monitoring air radioactivity.

Power distribution

The powerlines leaving Dukovany Nuclear Power Station are mainly installed on delta type pylons. They run to Slavetice substation situated at 49°6'15" N and 16°7'10" E. At this substation the powerline to Dürnrohr in Austria starts.

Plant owner CEZ plans to install a district heating circuit to supply heat to homes and businesses in Brno. A pipeline over 40 kilometres in length could be installed after regional officials have considered CEZ's environmental impact statement for the project, submitted in July 2010.

Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant
Country Czech Republic
Construction began 1974
Construction cost Kčs 25 billion
Operator(s) CEZ Group

Reactor information
Reactors operational 1 x 464 MW
1 x 466 MW
1 x 502 MW
1 x 465 MW
Reactor type(s) VVER 440

Power generation information
Annual generation 13,396 GW·h
Net generation 279,193 GW·h