CEZ Invites Bidders for Temelin Nuclear Project

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The race to build two new nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic is officially on as state-owned energy company CEZ AS (PRG:BAACEZ) (Prague) has formally invited tenders from three approved suppliers.

France's Areva SA (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France), U.S. company Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Monroeville, Pennsylvania) and the MIR.1200 Consortium comprising SKODA JS a.s. (Czech Republic) and Russian companies JSC Atomstroyexport (Moscow) and JSC OKB Gidropress (Moscow) have been invited to submit their bids for the Temelin nuclear project by July 2, 2012.

The reactor designs that will go head-to-head for the contract to build units 3 and 4 at Temelin include the Modernized International Reactor (MIR), a 1,200-megawatt (MW) reactor based on the pressurised water reactor technology of the VVER-440 and 1000 designs, Areva's European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) design and the AP1000 reactor from Westinghouse, which is undergoing design certification revisions before being licensed in the U.S. and U.K.

Temelin is a 2,000-MW facility in South Bohemia and is the biggest power producer in the Czech Republic. It uses VVER-1000, Type V 320 pressurised water reactors. CEZ's call for tenders is a major step forward for the controversial Temelin project, which has been plagued by disputes and delays for almost two decades. In March this year, the company's former chief executive, Martin Roman, announced that the project would be delayed for five years due to weak electricity demand. For additional information see, March 1, 2011, article - CEZ's Temelin Nuclear Project Faces Five-Year Delay.

Temelin was originally due to house four reactors but was limited to two by the government back in 1993. CEZ has been fighting ever since to have the other two constructed and finally won its battle in 2009. For additional information, see April 13, 2009, article - CEZ Wins Approval to Finish Controversial Temelin Nuclear Power Plant.

"Today, we have taken an important step to ensure a reliable supply of electricity to Czech customers in the upcoming decades," commented the new CEZ CEO, Daniel Benes. "It is a key pillar of CEZ's strategy to complete the Temelin nuclear power plant in this respect. We are glad that leading nuclear technology vendors from all over the world have decided to bid for the biggest public contract in CEZ' history but also in the history of the Czech Republic. When selecting a supplier, we are going to proceed in an absolutely transparent manner."

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