The Czech antitrust authorities have temporarily suspended the new nuclear power plant construction project contract between the Czech government and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), following objections from EDF (Électricité de France) and Westinghouse. These companies claim that their technology has been used unlawfully in the Korean-designed APR1000 and APR1400 reactors, leading to ongoing litigation.
The Korean government and KHNP have stated that this decision by the Czech antitrust authorities is merely a procedural step to address the objections raised by EDF and Westinghouse. They emphasize that this temporary action does not invalidate or negatively affect the final contract for the nuclear power plant project. A KHNP official mentioned that the Czech competition authorities made a provisional measure after receiving a formal complaint, instructing parties not to finalize the contract while the issue is under review.
The Czech antitrust office also clarified that accepting the objections does not indicate a decision on the matter’s outcome. According to internal guidelines, the Czech antitrust authorities require 60 to 90 days to make a government decision regarding the complaint.
Despite the temporary suspension, the government and KHNP aim to finalize the nuclear plant construction contract by March next year, suggesting that the delay will not significantly affect the schedule. Previously, in July, the Czech government had selected KHNP as the preferred bidder for the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the Dukovany region, with the project valued at approximately 24 trillion won. EDF and Westinghouse, who were not selected, filed complaints with the Czech antitrust authorities in August.
Although Westinghouse argued that KHNP violated public procurement procedures, a spokesperson for Czech power company ČEZ refuted this, stating that the new nuclear plant project was exempted from such procedures. In similar past scenarios, EDF had filed complaints only to have the Czech antitrust authorities uphold the government’s decisions without finding any issues.