Three companies formalized their bids to build two new reactors in the Czech Republic last week: Toshiba subsidiary Westinghouse, France-based Areva and a consortium led by Russia's Rosatom.
Radio Praha noted Wednesday that energy firm CEZ received the bid documents July 2. The company, which is 70 percent owned by the Czech government, will rank them by the end of the year and the government is expected to announce the winning bid next summer. Plans call for the new reactors to come online by 2025.
Details of the bids were not made public, although the cost of both units has been estimated at between $10 billion and $15 billion. According to Radio Praha, politics between the Czech government and the European Union and the Russian government, which controls Rosatom, are expected to be a factor in the bid selection, as is the amount of work each company can contract to Czech firms.
According to the World Nuclear Association, the Czech Republic uses six VVER pressurized water reactors at two plants. They produce about a third of the country's power, and plans call for nuclear to provide upwards of 60 percent by 2060.
The first new units would be built at the Temelin plant, and the public tender process began in 2009. Areva, a Westinghouse-led consortium, and a consortium led by Rosatom with Skoda JS and OKB Gidropress pursued the project, according to WNA. The contract would include complete construction of the reactors, plus fuel provision for nine years. It also could include an option for CEZ to order three additional reactors in the future.