A deal to build nuclear reactors worth $18B unblocked after court clears the way

A deal to build at least two nuclear reactors in Czechia has been unblocked after an appeals court dismissed a lower court ruling that blocked the government from signing a deal with South Korea’s KHNP power utility

PRAGUE -- A deal to build at least two nuclear reactors in Czechia was unblocked Wednesday, after an appeals court dismissed on Wednesday a lower court ruling that blocked the government from signing a deal with South Korea’s KHNP power utility.

The Supreme Administrative Court said that the ruling was not in line with law, meaning the signing of the deal could go ahead.

KHNP won a lucrative public tender last year, beating a competing bid by France’s EDF.

The two new reactors will be built at the existing Dukovany power plant in an effort for the country to wean itself off fossil fuels.

The contract between the dominant power company CEZ, where the Czech state has a majority stake, and KHNP was due to be signed on May 7 but EDF lodged a legal challenge at the regional court in the second-largest Czech city of Brno after the Czech anti-monopoly office dismissed its complaint about the tender.

The regional court said on May 6 that the deal could not be signed before it rules on the EDF case, because then there would be no way to change it even if the French company won.

CEZ and KHNP challenged that.

The two new reactors will complement Dukovany’s four 510-megawatt units that were completed in the 1980s. The total cost is estimated to be over over 400 billion koruna ($18 billion).

The first new reactor is expected to become operational for a trial by 2036, the second about two years later.