Czech parties agree China should not take part in nuclear tender (updated)

Brookfield Business Partners LP

27/01/2021 15:43

(Adds quote, background)
    By Robert Muller
    PRAGUE, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Czech political parties have
agreed Chinese companies should not take part in a planned
tender to build a new nuclear power plant, but there has been no
agreement on Russian participation, Industry and Trade Minister
Karel Havlicek told Reuters.
    The government is finalising conditions for a tender to
build a 1,200 megawatt (MW) unit at the existing Dukovany plant
to replace coal-fired plants that are to be phased out under
Europe's climate targets along with the eventual decommissioning
of some older nuclear units. 
    The EU and NATO member country's security services have
recommended that Russia - expected to be a strong contestant -
and China are excluded on national security grounds, a stance
that has been adopted by most opposition parties.
    "We have come closer on one issue, we nearly all agree that
China at this point is not realistic, now the discussion is
whether to allow Russia in some form or not," Havlicek said
after a meeting of party leaders on Wednesday.
    The government does not need a cross-party consensus to kick
off the tender, to be run by state-controlled utility CEZ
 CEZP.PR , but Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said he wanted a
wide political consensus given the project will not be completed
until 2036 or later. 
    Havlicek as well as President Milos Zeman and business
groups have argued that keeping Russia in at least as part of a
wider consortium would boost competition in the tender for the
plant, whose costs will be in billions of dollars.
    Nuclear energy has widespread support in the country unlike
in neighbouring Germany which is planning to phase out nuclear
as well as coal sources. 
    Besides Russia's Rosatom and China's CGN Power, South
Korea's KHNP, France's EdF  EDF.PA  and Westinghouse of the
United States are seen as potential bidders in the project to
build the bloc estimated to be worth at least 6 billion euros
($7.27 billion).

 (Reporting by Robert Muller 
Writing by Jan Lopatka
Editing by David Goodman and David Evans)
 ((jan.lopatka@thomsonreuters.com; +420 234 721 614; Reuters
Messaging: jan.lopatka.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))