2024-02-13 17:43:35
When American Ambassador Bijan Sabet took up his post in the Czech Republic a year ago, he made it one of his priorities for the government to choose the company Westinghouse for the construction of the nuclear unit in Dukovany. However, at the end of January, the cabinet excluded it from the tender due to failure to meet the conditions. The ambassador does not hide his disappointment.
“When I read the government’s statement, I was very disappointed. I said earlier that the Westinghouse AP1000 is the best and most reliable technology with a proven history and experience. It would be a great solution for the Czech Republic for the construction of a nuclear block,” the ambassador told Aktuálně.cz Bijan Sabet.
Shortly after entering the diplomatic office, he said that the support of Westinghouse and its offer in the tender for the completion of Dukovan was one of his biggest priorities. The American company has long-term cooperation with the Czech Republic, starting this year it will supply nuclear fuel to both domestic power plants.
However, according to the government, Westinghouse did not meet the conditions. “They did not submit a binding offer for one block,” said ČEZ spokesman Ladislav Kříž. According to the Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (STAN), it was therefore not even possible to evaluate the offer. Furthermore, according to the government, it was not clearly determined who would be responsible for the quality of the construction.
According to the former commissioner for the core, Jaroslav Míl, the company has itself to blame for being excluded from the tender. “If Westinghouse did not submit a binding offer, then it is a matter of non-fulfillment of the tender conditions and there is nothing else to do,” he told Seznam Zpravy.
Financial analyst Tomáš Cverna is of the same opinion. “The American company apparently kept the back door open, which would have had a negative impact on the progress of the project, and it is good that it was excluded from the tender. At the same time, it is a surprise to me that Westinghouse approached the tender in this way. Until recently, it seemed that all three companies are showing serious interest in the offer,” he said.
It was previously speculated that Westinghouse was not really worth that much for the contract. The company already has a contract for the construction of six units in Poland, which is preparing its first nuclear power plant. The same type of AP1000 reactor is already operating in China and was chosen by Bulgaria last year.
The Czech Republic will continue to negotiate new nuclear blocks only with the French company EDF and the Korean KHNP. China’s CGN and Russia’s Rosatom dropped out of the tender earlier. The government now wants the companies to finalize their bids for the construction of four blocks. And to submit binding offers for the construction of up to four new reactors in Dukovany and Temelín. They have until mid-April for new offers.
“From the course of the tender so far, it follows that if several reactors are ordered at the same time, the price per block could be reduced by up to 25 percent. This will enable economies of scale and optimization of the construction process,” explained Minister of Industry Síkela.