Czech Nuclear Power Plant ‘Korea to State Dates During Dispute’ Czech Republic Adds 2 ‘Small’ Units
‘International Nuclear News (WNN)’ reported that Czech Nuclear Power Plant was selected as the preferred bidder for ‘Korea to State Start and End Dates During Dispute’ and suggested the possibility of Korea being eliminated for the additional 2 units due to the possibility of ‘new modules’.
On the 27th, the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) announced that it had approved Westinghouse’s AP300 small modular reactor to enter the GDA (Generic Design Assessment) process, indicating that the Czech Republic’s additional 3 and 4 units will be converted to small modular reactors, showing a decline in the Korean-style ‘large reactor construction’.
WNN reported that “there is an ongoing dispute between Westinghouse and KHNP over intellectual property issues that are subject to international arbitration, and Westinghouse said that the process is not expected to be concluded before the second half of 2025,” and revealed the Czech nuclear power plant plan as follows: “the contract for the first unit in March 2025, the commissioning of the first new unit in 2036, and commercial operation in 2038,” and “in addition to the planned two new power plants, the introduction of small modular reactors is planned in the future.” Daniel Beneš, CEO and Chairman of Czech nuclear operator ČEZ, said on July 17 that “we have a clearly defined schedule that provides fixed dates for the start and completion of construction,” and that “it is important that the selected contractor implements this under the threat of sanctions,” and explained the reason for selecting Korea to WNN, saying, “In this respect, the preferred bidder’s proposal was even more satisfactory.”
The dispute between KHNP and Westinghouse has been complicated since 2022 because “the U.S. federal government has the right to transfer overseas intellectual property rights for nuclear power plants,” and in the first trial, the “U.S. Department of Justice” was recognized as the “licensing authority,” so it went to the appeals court. Westinghouse acknowledged that KHNP had limited rights to the “intellectual property license” through “the end of the appeals trial scheduled for the end of 2025,” and the trouble grew when KHNP attempted to “specify a construction date and bid at a low price” for the Czech nuclear power plant.
About Westinghouse’s intellectual property rights WNN said, “This APR1400 (Korea) is an evolved pressurized water reactor based on the CE System 80+ design acquired by Westinghouse in 2000,” and “This plant, designed primarily by Korea Engineering, produces 1400 MWe and has a design life of 60 years, and replaces the standardized 995 MWe OPR-1000 design that Korea built 12 units. It features improvements in operation, safety, maintenance, and economy based on accumulated experience as well as the development of this APR1400 technology.”
The Westinghouse lawsuit is based on the fact that KHNP and KEPCO need Westinghouse’s support to comply with US laws restricting the sharing of nuclear technology, and US law Part 810 states that the US Department of Energy’s rules for “approval of sharing certain technologies with other countries” govern the transfer of technology for the development, production, or use of reactors, equipment, and materials.
The UOHS, the monopoly management competition agency of Chego, “We are currently familiar with the content of both proposals (Westinghouse and Franchise),” he told WNN.
When the Korean preferred bidder was announced in July, Prime Minister Petr Fiala explained that the decision to move to a binding offer for all four units was the result of the original proposal that a separate process for the four units would have a 25% cost advantage,” suggesting that Korea had proposed an “average unit price for the four units.”
At the time of the announcement, the Prime Minister stated that the timeline was “to sign the contract for the first unit by the end of March 2025, with the first new unit commissioned in 2036 and commercial operation in 2038.” The United States is rapidly transitioning to fifth-generation small modular reactors, and in July, Kairos Power announced the start of field work and excavation for the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor, the first non-light water reactor to be licensed in the United States in over 50 years.
WNN reported on the 30th of last month that “Hermes is a non-power version of Kairos Power’s fluorine salt-cooled high-temperature reactor, the KP-HFR, and is the first and only Generation IV reactor to receive construction approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),” and that “it will not produce electricity, but will demonstrate low-cost fission production capability on the path to commercialization of advanced reactor technology with a target of operating in 2027. Electricity will be generated at the Hermes Unit 2 plant,” announcing the transition to fifth-generation small modular reactors.
The Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for Westinghouse's AP300 small modular reactor, approved by the UK Department for Energy Security (DESNZ), is a unique nuclear process in the UK conducted by three government agencies: the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the Environment Agency (ENA), and Natural Resources Wales (NRR) to assess the safety, security, and environmental protection aspects of a nuclear power plant design.
WNN said, "Successful completion of the GDA will result in the issuance of a Design Acceptance Letter from the ONR (Nuclear Regulation) and a Design Acceptance Letter from the EA (Environment Agency)." "In May 2021, BEIS opened the GDA process to advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), and Westinghouse applied to begin the GDA process for its AP300 design in February this year." The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) categorized 'small' as less than 300 MWe and 'medium' as up to about 700 MWe in the 2015 <Report on Standardization and Harmonization of SMR Licensing Requirements>, and defined both reactors as small reactors (SMRs).
'SMRs' (small modular reactors) are designed for serial construction and are designed to collectively form a large nuclear power plant, while vSMRs, a subcategory of ultra-small reactors, are proposed as 'clean energy' for units less than about 15 MWe, especially for remote communities.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are designed using modular technology using modular factory manufacturing for reactors of 300 MWe or less, pursuing the economy of serial production and short construction times, and minimizing the risk of accidents without requiring large sites. Westinghouse was one of six SMR suppliers that participated in a UK government-backed bid in October last year to expand the UK’s nuclear energy capacity to 24GW by 2050, quadrupling by 2050. Earlier this year, Westinghouse signed a contract with Community Nuclear Power Limited to build four AP300 units in northeast England, attempting to build the UK’s first privately funded SMR, and the Czech bid provided the backdrop for South Korea’s ‘intellectual property flaw’ shake-up.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Deok-geun said on the 8th during his visit to Washington, D.C., “We will discuss with the U.S. Department of Energy cooperative systems that can be supported at the government level,” adding, “We are in the process of commercial negotiations between companies, and I believe that things will proceed without any major issues.”
When Presidential Chief of Staff Sung Tae-yoon became the head of the Czech delegation, he announced on the 17th of last month that the construction contract amount would be "decided through future negotiations" and that "President Yoon would visit the Czech Republic in September and meet with the Prime Minister," and President Yoon Seok-yeol announced in a policy briefing on the 28th that he would "visit the Czech Republic soon." See <Czech nuclear power plant secret letter upgraded, Baccarat nuclear power plant 25% 'additional' Yoon Seok-yeol 'contractor', July 23, 2024>