Rusatom Overseas, the foreign marketing arm of Russian state nuclear construction company Rosatom, has upped the pressure on its two rival bidders to build two new reactors at Temelín by saying it can finance the whole project if need be. Areva of France and Westinghouse, a US unit of Japan’s Toshiba, have refused to give such a commitment. The move puts pressure on ČEZ and the Czech state if financing becomes the key issue for Temelín’s expansion.

A possible nuclear energy splurge in the Czech Republic no longer looks on the cards over the next half century with Industry and Trade Minister Martin Kuba saying one scenario for 18 new nuclear reactors producing 80 percent of the country’s electricity belongs in the fiction section. Kuba is tasked with drawing up the country's long term energy plans, now likely to be delivered mid-year.

In addition to building two new reactors at the Temelín nuclear power plant, the Czech government is contemplating proposals to make nuclear power the source of up to 80 percent of the country’s energy. Such a strategy would require building more nuclear plants, and a report reviewed by the government on Wednesday says military training grounds are the most-suitable potential sites.

Czechs with a pro-nuclear power stance have welcomed news that the number two at the Czech nuclear safety watchdog, the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB), Petr Krs, has been given a key role in EU stress tests of atomic plants (with a Frenchman in the top spot). But environmentalists and green groups just see it as confirmation that the evaluation process has been rigged in advance.