13.09.2026 News
New Nuclear Projects Raise the Question of Expert Capacity in the Region. VUJE Partners International Conference
The road from the decision to build a nuclear unit to its safe start-up is a long one. Upcoming projects, their challenges, and the people and companies who will deliver them were discussed in detail at the international conference Nové jaderné zdroje v regionu (New Nuclear Sources in the Region) in Mariánské Lázně. VUJE was one of the main partners of this major event.
The event brought together state representatives, investors, technology companies and specialist firms active in nuclear power.
The motto “Nuclear on the Rise” was more than an empty phrase on the programme. Expert discussions focused on the construction of new units in the Czech Republic and the potential of small modular reactors in Europe, as well as the broader challenges of the energy transition.
Their current status and further development were addressed by speakers including Tomáš Ehler of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, Bohdan Zronek of ČEZ, Petr Brzezina, President of Westinghouse for the Czech Republic and Slovakia (pictured), and Blanka Cupáková, who heads the supply chain of ČEZ’s SMR programme.
Alongside the strategic topics and opportunities for supplier involvement, another question emerged: what expert and supply capacities will our region have at its disposal in the future? If several nuclear projects are to be developed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the available experts will need to be coordinated, and the capacities of regulatory bodies must also be taken into account.
VUJE, a.s. was represented by Andrej Žiarovský, our Director for Development and International Operations (pictured). He brought to the discussions the perspective of a company with almost 50 years of history and extensive experience in nuclear safety analyses and the scientific supervision of nuclear power plant unit commissioning. He emphasised in particular VUJE’s practical experience with the safe commissioning of units, drawing on the broad range of our activities.
“We create energy solutions for future generations. The transition to new and stable energy sources demands exceptional professional responsibility, innovative thinking and long-standing experience. As an engineering company delivering complex projects from initial documentation to final testing, we see this event as a key platform for sharing technological know-how and connecting expertise on a pan-European scale,” said Andrej Žiarovský.
The conference in Mariánské Lázně thus provided a valuable opportunity to compare the status of projects and exchange experience among the experts involved in their preparation and implementation. It confirmed that the question of expert capacity remains as concrete and important for the region as the technical plans for building new generating capacity.
