Russians proceeding furthest in Temelin tender
Date: 22. 3. 2010
Source: E15
Despite the tender for completion of further two units at the Temelin nuclear power plant shall be fully opened only at the end of this year, individual bidders have already started working on their bids and searching for potential subcontractors and business partners. The chances of individual bidders are also becoming clearer. The Czech-Russian consortium comprising of ŠKODA JS - Atomstroyexport - OKB Gidropress has appeared to be the most active among all the bidders so far.
The Consortium’s ace is ŠKODA JS, which is the only company in the wide surroundings to have experience in supplies of nuclear reactors. The consortium bids design MIR- 1200 that is based on VVER-type light water reactors. In Russia, analogous units based on this technology are now under construction in the Leningrad, Novovoronezh and Baltic nuclear power plants. Negotiations are also being led on construction of 4 units pursuant to the MIR- 1200 design in Turkey and the same design is being assessed in Finland.
At least 70 percent of equipment, work and services to be provided upon construction of domestic reactors shall come from the Czech Republic. Yet within the preparations for the tender, the Consortium concluded agreements of future contracts with more than 20 local and European companies.
American Westinghouse also promises involvement of the highest possible amount of local companies. Nevertheless, the company has not yet specified where the reactor, which is the most precious part of a nuclear power plant in terms of technology, shall be built. If the Americans win the tender, the Czech Republic would reportedly become the technological centre for construction of further nuclear power plants in Central and Eastern Europe. All the same, without any possibility to produce own reactor vessels. At present, AP 1000 belongs to the safest and, due to a limited amount of materials used, cheapest reactors.
For the time being, French AREVA has stayed apart. The world’s leader in the nuclear power industry, which builds upon the former Framatome company, has confirmed its participation in the tender, yet it has not initiated negotiations with local suppliers. Obviously, the participation of Czech companies in the construction will not be as significant as it could be in the case of its competitors’ victory. However, being a European company, AREVA shall have the greatest chances from the political point of view.
Robert Zelenka / Prague
70% - that shall be the minimum involvement of Czech companies in supplies for the completion of Temelin in case that the Russian MIR-1200 design wins.