Prague - The most likely winner of the tender for the reconstruction of the Czech Temelín nuclear plant is Russian consortium called MIR.1200.
According to the extended version of the Czech counter-intelligence's 2010 report, undisclosed to the public, the Russian group is closer to the Temelín deal, worth approximately EUR 20bil, than its two competitors. A source familiar with the document said this to Aktualne.cz, a Czech online daily.
The same report calls the possibility of the Russian consortium winning the tender a potential threat to the Czech energy security. "They offer know-how, they expect maximum participation of our companies. But security concerns do not allow this," said the source about the Czech counter-intelligence's stance on the preliminary Russian offer.
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For the same reason, Industry Minister Martin Kocourek praised the bid by Westinghouse, a US company, in December last year. The winner of the tender should be known by 2013. According to Czech PM Petr Nečas, the delay of the tender was one of the reasons of the resignation of Martin Roman as the CEO of ČEZ, a Czech energy giant that operates Temelín.
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There are three companies interested in the contract. France's Areva is believed to be the outsider of the tender.
"(Areva) is out of the game. In addition, the French are not really interested, they have a lot of other contracts," said the source.
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And as US Westinghouse has not said anything concrete yet, meeting with the company's representatives will be a part of the agenda of PM Nečas' visit in the US planned at the end of October. "The Russians have the upper hand. That's why Americans have invited Nečas and plan to do the same as they did," the source said to AKtualne.cz. No doubt about that. If the US politics is effective in something, it is in supporting the US industry," said Jiří Gavor from ENA, a Czech consultancy.
"Of course, the issue of nuclear energy will be on the table," said Czech ambassador to USA Petr Gandalovič in an interview with iHned, a Czech online daily.
According to Gavor, the Russian offer is "objectively the best," so Westinghouse will have some catching up to do. "The cooperation between the Czech and Russian nuclear energy has the most solid base. The reactors currently in work here are Russian-made, but with a high degree of Czech know-how and Czech supply. They were supplemented by modern technology of Western provenience, above all control units. But the core is Russian-Czech technology," Gavor explained the Russian advantage in the Temelín tender.
