National Assembly moves toward hearing on Czech nuclear plant contractor dispute

The National Assembly is moving to hold a hearing to investigate the controversy surrounding Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's decision to replace the contractor for the Czech Dukovany nuclear power plant construction project.

According to an official from the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sung-won, who chairs the committee, called on both the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party on Friday to reach a bipartisan agreement on holding a hearing into the contracting dispute for the Dukovany project.

At a plenary session of the committee held Friday morning, People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-min said there are allegations that Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power tried to favor a specific company during contract negotiations. "I cannot shake the feeling that Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, in a nuclear power export project that should be generating national wealth, is holding back our companies because of its own internal problems," Park said.

Park called for a hearing to get to the bottom of the matter, saying the National Assembly should use the occasion to actively support the nuclear power export drive.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Hee-seung also proposed holding a hearing along the same lines, according to sources.

The two parties' negotiators on the committee are now seen as likely to reach an agreement on convening the hearing.

However, the specific timing of the hearing and the scope of witnesses to be called have yet to be determined and will require further coordination.

Earlier, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power announced Oct. 29 that it was terminating contract negotiations with the Daewoo Engineering & Construction–Doosan Enerbility consortium for the Dukovany project and would begin preparations to launch a new bidding process to select a replacement contractor.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power said the breakdown stemmed from unresolved differences over contract terms, adding that the two sides had gone through working-level negotiations, a dispute-adjustment committee process and executive-level talks but had failed to reach a final agreement.

However, some have raised allegations that Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power deliberately walked away from the negotiations in order to replace the contractor with a specific company it had in mind.

The Dukovany nuclear power plant construction project is valued at 422 billion Czech koruna ($19.5 billion). Under the project, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power is to supply two units of the APR1000, a 1,000 MW Korean-designed reactor, at the Dukovany site in the Czech Republic.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power had agreed to deliver the full scope of the project — covering engineering, procurement and construction, commissioning and nuclear fuel supply — together with its "Team Korea" partners: Kepco Engineering & Construction, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, Doosan Enerbility, Kepco Fuel and Kepco Plant Service & Engineering.