Nuclear Power Project in Czech

This file photo shows officials from the Czech Nuclear Safety Committee having a meeting with KHNP officials during their visit to Gori Nuclear Power Plant on August 18 2017.

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) is highly likely to win an order for a nuclear power plant from the Czech Republic. If KHNP wins the Czech project, it will go a long way towards revitalizing Korea’s nuclear industry.

According to domestic media reports, the Czech public broadcaster Czech Radio reported on Oct. 17 that Dana Drabova, chairwoman of the State Office for Nuclear Safety, said in an interview with a local media organization that KHNP is the most suitable company to undertake the nuclear power plant project of the Czech Republic.

She spoke highly of Baraka Nuclear Plant, which KHNP is currently building in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "The Baraka Project is a good example through which we can check KHNP's capabilities in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants," Drabova was quoted as saying. "Considering the time and budget, KHNP is the most appropriate company to build the nuclear power plant."

The Czech government is pushing for the construction of one or two 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants in Dukovany and Temelin. They will be completed in 2025 and begin commercial operation in 2035. To this end, the Czech government received letters of intent to participate from companies in July 2016. The list of potential bidders included Korea’s KHNP, the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), Russia's Rosatom, France's EDF, ATMEA (a France-Japan consortium), and Westinghouse of the U.S. 

KHNP is making all-out efforts to land the order. It has assembled a team focusing on the Czech Republic power plant project. Jung Jae-hoon, president of KHNP, flew into the Czech Republic in August. Jung discussed ways to cooperate in the field of nuclear power in a meeting with Jan Stuller, special envoy for nuclear energy at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, and executives of Czech Power Company CEZ.

The Czech government will receive proposals and select the preferred bidder next year. "The most important thing is to secure the safety of the nuclear power plant," Drabova was quoted as saying. "There will be more evaluations including safety evaluations down the road."

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