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Rosatom offering reactor of new generation

Russian state-run company Rosatom is offering a reactor of new generation III+ for the potential construction of a new nuclear unit in the Czech Republic, Rosatom's deputy head Kirill Komarov told CTK today.

According to Komarov, Rosatom is the only company in the world to have built such reactor. It put it into operation at the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant in Russia last August.

The reactor VVER-120 fully complies with all safety requirements that have been adopted after the accident of the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima in 2011, Komarov said.

Rosatom would leave the model of financing up to the Czech government. The company is ready to take part in a project that would be acceptable for both parties, Komarov said.

Rosatom has experience in building nuclear power plants under various models of financing, he added.

The method of financing currently poses the biggest obstacle to the planned construction of a new nuclear source. Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mladek said after a meeting of the government's committee for nuclear energy last week that no consensus had been achieved in this regard yet.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Finance Minister Andrej Babis, among others.

Babis said before the meeting that as long as he served as finance minister, the state would provide no money for the construction of new reactors. Energy group CEZ can easily borrow the money on the market, he said.

Mladek, too, has said he would prefer if a new unit was built without any guarantees from the state.

Six entities have expressed interest in building a new nuclear unit in the Czech Republic. Besides Rosatom, they include EDF of France, US-Japanese Westinghouse Electric Company, South Korea's KHNP, China General Nuclear Power and Atmea, a joint venture between Areva and Mitsubishi.

The Industry and Trade Ministry is holding intensive talks with the potential investors. The talks started last Thursday and are to last until February 10.

The current cabinet refused to provide state guarantees for the building of two new units at the Temelin nuclear power plant in April 2014. CEZ subsequently cancelled the tender for the plant's completion.

The National Action Plan for the Development of Nuclear Energy, which was approved in 2015, envisages one new unit at both Dukovany and Temelin with a possible extension to two units at both plants.

Source: ČTK