Nearly 40 Czech companies with nuclear construction expertise, including Škoda JS, Hochtief, Kabex, Nuvia, EGP Invest and TES, sent their representatives to discuss the prospects of building a new power unit at Dukovany.
Leoš Tomíček, Senior Vice President of Rusatom Overseas Inc. (a Rosatom Group company promoting turnkey nuclear construction projects on foreign markets) spoke about Rosatom’s supply chains at the conference and presented current and prospective partnership opportunities for Czech companies. According to him, Czech vendors are Russia’s long-standing partners in the nuclear industry. Among them are Vitkovice, MSA, Mostro, ZPA Pečky, Arako, Armatury Group, Krona, Lutos, Kabelovna Kabex, Sigma Lutin and others who supplied machines and equipment for the Novovoronezh, Rostov, Kalinin, Balakovo, Beloyarsk, Leningrad and Smolensk nuclear power plants in Russia, Kudankulam in India, Tianwan in China, and the nuclear station in Belarus. “Over the last few years, Czech companies won supply contracts for 14 nuclear plants built by Rosatom both in Russia and abroad,” said Leoš Tomíček.
The speaker also mentioned the involvement of Czech suppliers in Rosatom’s new projects. A good example is assessment of safety systems for Hanhiviki-1 by experts from the UJV Řež Nuclear Research Institute.
According to Leoš Tomíček, the nuclear construction projects in Finland, Hungary, Jordan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt and Turkey are the best short-term options for Czech vendors to participate. “We welcome Czech suppliers to take part in our projects, both current and new. Rosatom’s portfolio of overseas projects comprises 36 reactor units in the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia, and I am sure that Czech companies will be active in implementing this massive program,” Tomíček said.
Speaking about the prospects of building a new reactor at Dukovany, Tomíček mentioned the VVER technology which is very much familiar to Czech vendors and, if selected for the project, will maximize their involvement. “When discussing the Temelin project, we assumed its local content to be maximal. Most suppliers were selected; some of them were even awarded contracts. I am sure that the local industry input in the Dukovany project will exceed 50% as well,” Leoš Tomíček added. He also noted that bidding procedures for foreign companies were simplified in 2015. Today any foreign supplier can submit a bid via the open digital platform without an electronic signature or a branch in Russia.
Josef Kotrba, Office Managing Partner at Deloitte Czech Republic, spoke about financing schemes for nuclear construction projects, pointing at pros and cons of each of them. He cited an example of Paks nuclear plant now expanded in Hungary by Russian engineers “The Paks financing scheme can serve both as a reference and a stimulus for the expansion of Dukovany nuclear station,” Josef Kotrba said.
Aleš John, chairman of the Dukovany Public Safety Commission and former Dukovany CEO, noted that the Czech industry needs to strengthen partnership with Rosatom. Specifically, it should prepare a consolidated offer for nuclear construction projects and secure export financing for this purpose.
