Vlček: Government confident Czech firms will secure 60% share at Dukovany

The government has no doubt that Czech firms will achieve the promised 60 percent share of the project to build and operate new nuclear units at Dukovany. Contracts currently guarantee a 30 percent share, and further contracts are expected to follow. Industry and Trade Minister Lukáš Vlček (STAN) said this at a press conference today. He also rejected the suggestion that the project could be complicated by South Korea’s new government, saying it has the support of the entire South Korean political spectrum.

Last week, following a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court, Elektrárna Dukovany II, the company in charge of the nuclear tender, signed final contracts with South Korean firm KHNP to build two nuclear units at Dukovany. KHNP won the nuclear tender last year, with the government preferring its bid to those submitted by EDF and Westinghouse. The first unit at Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036. The construction of new nuclear units in Czechia is expected to be the country’s largest-ever contract. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred option of building two reactors at Dukovany is 407 billion crowns.

One of the main topics at today’s meeting between the minister and representatives of the Třebíč region was the involvement of Czech industry in the entire project. The South Koreans previously pledged that Czech firms would account for 60 percent of the project.

“We are not worried that we won’t achieve that,” Vlček said.

He noted that a month ago KHNP signed binding contracts with Czech firms guaranteeing the Czech industry a roughly 30 percent share of the construction work. The contracts cover, for example, the supply of the entire turbine hall, engineering work and other technical work.

Vlček added that the terms of the nuclear tender also include safety guarantees that should primarily be met by Czech firms, which already supply nuclear technologies for the existing units at Dukovany and Temelín. The minister also stressed that involving Czech firms will be important for gaining experience and references for similar future projects, both in Czechia and abroad.

Vlček also assured reporters that the project would not face complications from South Korea’s new government, for example over exports of nuclear technology from South Korea. “The project has excellent political support in Korea. We are getting strong feedback from across the political spectrum,” he said. Korea elected a new president last week, and his first step will be to form a new government.

According to Vlček, today’s meeting also addressed the implementation of other projects and construction work related to Dukovany. These will mainly involve expanding transport infrastructure, housing capacity, and cultural, security and other facilities. “We are now negotiating the next steps based on the socioeconomic study that has been prepared, so that we can define what comes next,” the minister said.

Immediately after signing the final contracts for Dukovany, Elektrárna Dukovany II (EDU II), the company in charge of the nuclear tender in Czechia, began planning the next steps for building the nuclear units together with South Korean firm KHNP. A geological survey of the site is scheduled for the summer, for example, and work will also begin on permit and licensing documentation. EDU II board chairman Petr Závodský said this at a press conference today.

The geological survey of the site for both units will be carried out by ČEZ Energetické produkty and other companies, probably through the end of this year. “The boreholes will be deep, perhaps more than 100 metres,” Závodský said. He added that surveys had been carried out there before, but the precise layout of future buildings, including the reactors, has now been determined. Construction workers are already building an administrative building for EDU II at the power plant; it is due to be completed in the middle of next year. EDU II already has teams at the Dukovany power plant, but they will grow, he said. The construction site for Dukovany’s first new unit is expected to be handed over in 2029.

According to Vlček, around 15 billion crowns will need to be invested in transport infrastructure alone to move materials and heavy and oversized components for the new units. Závodský said that roads should be ready for oversized loads in 2030.