(Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English)
PARIS. Nov 18 (Interfax) - France's Areva and Czech power utility
CEZ have signed a 15-year contract for providing uranium enrichment
services for the Temelin nuclear power plant (units 1 and 2), the
companies said in a joint press release.
The contract further increases the substantial order book for
Areva's future Georges Besse II enrichment plant in France.
"We consider the execution of the future EUP deliveries (Enriched
Uranium Product) as a new challenge which will require a very close
co-operation with AREVA. This contract is a very important part of
our long-term diversification of supply strategy," CEZ said,
commenting on this document.
At the same time fuel assemblies for the Temelin units will be
made by Russian corporation TVEL which one a tender in 2006. Russian
uranium enrichment services will be supplied by Tekhsnabexport.
Experts estimate that the price of a fuel assembly will consist
of about 40% of the uranium enrichment cost, up to 50% of the
natural uranium price and only 10-15% of the cost of manufacturing a
fuel assembly proper.
It was reported earlier that the Russian fuel is expected to be
loaded into the Temelin reactors in 2010, the contract is valid
until 2020.
CEZ runs the Temelin and Dukovany nuclear power plants (a total
of six reactors) and provides 31% of the Czech Republic's
electricity generation. The company is also set to build two new
units on the Temelin site over the next decade and has already
announced a tender. Pre-qualification bids for the tender have been
sent by Russia's Atomstroyexport in consortium with Hydropress
Design Bureau and the Czech Republic's Skoda JS, as well as
France's Areva NP and U.S.-Japanese company Westinghouse (Toshiba -
the majority shareholder).
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