Poll: Half of Czechs favour completion of Temelín plant

Prague, Nov 1 (CTK) - Half of Czechs are in favour of the expansion of the nuclear power plant Temelin, more than a third are against and 15 percent of people do not know, according to a survey conducted by the Public Opinion Research Centre (CVVM) in October.

The share of those who totally agree with Temelin's completion has almost doubled during the year, which may be assigned to fading worries associated with last year's nuclear accident at the Japanese plant Fukushima, the survey showed.

The percentage of people who do not fear nuclear power generation and of those who are only a little worried has grown markedly in 20 years.

A significantly higher share of those opposing Temelin's enlargement is among the voters and supporters of the Greens. Their fears of nuclear power are also bigger.

Costs of the Temelin project are estimated at between Kc200bn and Kc300bn. The construction of the third and fourth units is to be completed in 2025 at the latest. The winner of the tender will be picked next year.

Around one-third of Czechs said they wanted the share of nuclear energy to be maintained at the current level. One-third spoke in favour of a bigger rate, one-fifth was against and a tenth of people said they did not know.

A third of people have big to moderate worries about Czech nuclear power, a third have small worries and over a quarter said they feel no fear at all.

Two-fifths of respondents are sure that it is possible to replace traditional energy with energy from wind parks, solar panels and from burning of biomass, according to the survey.

Forty-six percent hold the opposite opinion.

Two-thirds of people believe electricity consumption will be rising in the future. Less than one-tenth of respondents thought just the opposite and one-fifth of those polled said that consumption would be kept at the current level, the survey has revealed.

The CVVM survey was carried out among 1,025 Czechs older than 15 years of age at the beginning of October.