The envelopes with the bids from the groups vying to build another two nuclear reactors at the Temelín nuclear power plant in South Bohemia are being open in the ČEZ headquarters today. Three international groupings are competing for the multibillion euro contract – France’s state-owned nuclear engineering giant Areva SA, a consortium led by Russia’s Atomstroyexport, and finally U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co. The contract, worth over USD 10bn (€7.9bn), should be signed by the end of next year and the reactors are expected to be operational by 2025. A special team of more than 200 engineers will be kept busy assessing the bids for the next six months under an extremely strict security regime.
