US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Prague on Monday to support the American company Westinghouseās bid on a $10bn Czech nuclear plant contract. On her first solo trip to Prague, Clinton is set to meet with Prime Minister Petr NeÄas and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.
“The Czech Republic, like many of its neighbors is significantly dependent on a single supplier and turning to the United States in partnership to develop its civil nuclear energy would be a way of diversifying that energy supply,” said a senior State Department official in an AFP report.
Prague is currently in negotiations with two companies, Westinghouse and Russiaās Rosatom, to expand the TemelĆn nuclear plant. The Czech government will decide which company gets the contract next year. The plantās new units are scheduled to come online by 2025.
NeÄas said that his government plans to increase nuclear powerās share of the countryās total energy production to a minimum of 50 percent by 2040.
