New Nuclear: The Czech Tender Narrows to EDF and KHNP

 The Czech Republic announced on Thursday, February 1, that it had ruled out the American offer, selecting only two candidates for its nuclear expansion project: Korean KHNP and the French company EDF expansion project. The country aims to build up to four nuclear reactors.

The tender for the construction of a reactor at the Dukovany power plant and three additional units has uniquely selected two candidates. “The Czech government announced on Wednesday that it would request firm bids to build up to four nuclear reactors instead of just one,” Reuters reports. It also announced that the American offer, led by Westinghouse, was dismissed for “not meeting the conditions.” The next stage of the tender is scheduled for April 2024.

EDF submitted its updated offer in October 2023, including engineering, procurement, construction, and industrial commissioning services for an EPR1200 reactor at the Dukovany plant and the supply of fuel assemblies. Two indicative proposals were related to supporting the development of a reactor fleet with three additional units (Dukovany 6, Temelín 3, and 4).

The 1,200 MW EPR 1200 aims to meet the technical characteristics of the site and enrich the French offering, which includes the SMR Nuward (2×170 MWe), the EPR1200, and the EPR (1650 MW). Similarly, KHNP offers the Czech operator ČEZ the APR1000, a medium-power version of its APR1400.

Nuclear power in the Czech Republic accounts for nearly a third of the national electricity production, with six reactors across two plants generating an annual output of 31 TWh (2022). The Dukovany nuclear power plant, located in the Vysočina region, has four VVER 440 MWe reactors commissioned in the 1980s, and the Temelín nuclear power plant in South Bohemia, has two VVER 1080 MWe reactors commissioned in the early 2000s. The Czech Republic is aiming for the commissioning of the first unit in 2036.■