Czech Republic temporarily suspends 'Korea nuclear power plant contract' over rival's objection

The Czech anti-monopoly authorities temporarily suspended the contract with the government to build a new nuclear power plant for Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., foreign media reported.

According to AFP and Reuters, an official at the Czech Antimonopoly Office (UOHS) said, "We decided preemptively after accepting objections from the French Electric Power Corporation, EDF and Westinghouse in the United States."

"Preliminary measures to hold off on signing a contract are standard procedures in this case and do not suggest how to decide this issue," the official said.

These remarks are interpreted as meaning that although they accept the objections of the competitors, they did not judge that there was a problem in the process of selecting the preferred bidder by KHNP.

"We are confident that we have complied with the relevant laws since the selection of preferred bidders," the Czech Electric Power Corporation, which ordered the project, told Reuters.

In July, the Czech government selected KHNP as the preferred bidder for the additional construction project of the Dukovani nuclear power plant and agreed to sign a final contract by March next year.

If the Czech government's plan to build two more at the existing Temelin nuclear power plant is finalized in addition to the two Dukovani targets, KHNP will also be the preferred bidder.

In the project, which has an estimated total project cost of 24 trillion won, KHNP plans to export the APR1000 model with a facility capacity of 1.0 GW.

U.S. companies Westinghouse and EDF, which dropped out of the bidding race, each filed an objection with Czech anti-trust authorities after the selection of preferred bidders.

Westinghouse argued that KHNP used the patented reactor design technology and that it could not be used by a third party without its permission.

The company is also suing KHNP in the United States for violating its rights.