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The deal will supply about a third of the uranium needs for the Westinghouse fuel assemblies used at the Temelin nuclear power plant.

ÄŒEZ said the contract increased the diversification of suppliers and helped the energy security for the country.

Vladislav Baiguzhin, Chief Commercial Officer of Kazatomprom, said: "With this new agreement, Kazatomprom continues to grow its footprint in the European market and advance its strategy of diversifying sales portfolio. This is another important milestone in our mission to be a partner of choice for the global nuclear energy industry. As we build on our previous contracts, partnerships such as this one with ÄŒEZ, allow us to support energy security in the region while advancing our shared goals of decarbonisation and sustainability."

Bohdan Zronek, Director of the Nuclear ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Division of ÄŒEZ, said: "Securing a partnership with Kazatomprom diversifies our supplier portfolio and is of strategic importance for ÄŒEZ and the Czech Republic. It ensures that our nuclear power plants will continue to have a stable and reliable source of fuel, which is essential for meeting our energy needs and implementing our decarbonisation plan by 2030."

Background
 

There are a number of steps in the nuclear fuel cycle, with diversification of suppliers seen as important - Temelin's fuel has previously been supplied by Russia's TVEL. The final fuel assemblies for ÄŒEZ's nuclear power plants are now being supplied by Westinghouse and Framatome, although before then uranium has to be bought on world markets (as with the Kazatomprom supply contract) and then enriched, with the company having contracts for this stage with Urenco and Orano.

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The Czech Republic uses nuclear power for about 34% of its electricity, generating this from four VVER-440 reactors at Dukovany and two VVER-1000 units at Temelin, which came into operation in 2000 and 2002. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power was recently selected as preferred supplier for the construction of up to four new reactors at Dukovany and Temelin. There are also plans for small modular reactors in the country, with ÄŒEZ selecting Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred supplier, and taking a stake in the company.