On 3 August CEZ opened a tender for the supply of two nuclear units for the planned expansion of the Temelin power plant in southern Czech Republic. CEZ asked for an environmental impact assessment for the new units last year but it said on 3 August that the administrative process alone would take seven to eight years, and the plant would be built in about 15 years. CEZ said it was also seeking an option for supply of three more nuclear units at potential sites in Europe. CEZ said the planned output and type of reactors would be determined in the tender, but that they should be light-water cooled, pressurized water reactors. Westinghouse Electric, now a subsidiary of Japan-based Toshiba Corp., supplied CEZ’s last construction work at Temelin at the start of the decade. Other possible bidders could include Areva SA, Russia-based Atomstroiexport and Siemens, which are among contractors to supply Bulgaria’s construction of its Belene nuclear plant.
