Czech Republic Nuclear Reactor: 3 Companies Expected To Bid For Project

The Czech Republic launched a tender on Thursday to build a new reactor at the Dukovany nuclear plant as the country aims to increase nuclear power generation.

Three companies — U.S. Westinghouse, France’s EDF and Korea’s KHNP — have passed a Czech government security appraisal and are expected to bid for the lucrative project.

The project’s estimated cost of around 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) is the biggest single investment in the Czech Republic, Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela said.

Russian and Chinese companies, including Russia’s energy giant Rosatom and China’s CNG, have been excluded from the tender on security grounds.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Russian participation in the key project for the country’s energy security was “unimaginable” following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The new reactor will complement Dukovany’s four 510-megawatt units that were completed in the late 1980s. It should become operational by 2036, Fiala said.