Contract for new units at the Dukovany plant in Czechia to proceed as planned, KHNP says

The contract to build new nuclear units at Dukovany will proceed according to the agreed schedule. South Korean company KHNP said this in response to a question from the Czech News Agency (ČTK). The political crisis in South Korea should therefore not jeopardize the Czech tender. KHNP is now negotiating a final contract with ČEZ, which the parties aim to sign by the end of March next year. The first reactor is expected to be commissioned in 2036.

„The contract for the project to build a new Czech nuclear power plant will proceed according to the schedule and process agreed with the owner,“ KHNP said this morning.

Political events in Korea should therefore not jeopardize the Czech tender. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday. It lasted only about six hours, however; the South Korean government revoked it after the president shortly beforehand decided to respect the will of parliament, which had called on him to lift martial law in a vote. South Korean opposition lawmakers today introduced a motion to impeach the president.

South Korea’s KHNP won the Czech nuclear tender, with the government selecting its bid over that of France’s EDF in the summer. The cabinet also decided that it wants to build two new nuclear units at Dukovany. The first of the new reactors is expected to be completed in 2036. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred option of building two reactors is 400 billion crowns. The state is also counting on an option to build two more reactors at Temelín in the future.

The tender is still under review by the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), which EDF and another bidder, US company Westinghouse, approached with objections to the tender process. The antitrust authority has issued a preliminary ruling that the tender was conducted properly and rejected the objections. Both companies have appealed, however. Before that, the ÚOHS also prohibited the signing of a contract with KHNP until it makes a final ruling on the matter.

Czech exports to the Republic of Korea rose by about 4.4 percent year on year in the first three quarters of this year, to approximately 9.6 billion crowns. South Korea was the Czech Republic’s 43rd most important export partner during this period, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO).

According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, machinery and transport equipment accounted for the largest share of exports – almost 40 percent – followed by manufactured and consumer goods. The Czech Republic has a trade deficit with South Korea: imports in the first three quarters amounted to around 79.3 billion crowns, almost the same as in the same period last year, when Korean companies exported goods worth 78.9 billion crowns to the Czech Republic. Imports from the Republic of Korea were also the 11th largest among all countries.