CTK reported that Mr Martin Kocourek industry and trade
minister of Czech and his US counterpart Mr Gary Locke signed a declaration on
bilateral cooperation in nuclear energy in Washington. Cooperation will take
commercial and scientific form.
The two countries' interest in cooperation is quite natural. The Czech Republic
is preparing a lucrative tender for the completion of the nuclear power plant
Temelin, near the Austrian border, in which the US firm Westinghouse has
expressed interest. Westinghouse has a Japanese owner but its seat and
operations are in the USA. The project is worth several hundred billion crowns.
Besides Westinghouse, the other bidders are Czech-Russian consortium of Skoda
JS Atomstroyexport and France's Areva.
Mr Petr Necas, Prime Minister of Czech said that earlier decision on the winner
of the tender would be made in 2013. He added that the USA was looking forward
to cooperation with the Czech Republic that is preparing new nuclear reactors.
He said he hoped the industry in both countries might take advantage of the new
opportunities.
Mr Kocourek told journalists that Westinghouse may consider itself one of the
favorites in the Temelin tender. The US side is qualified in nuclear energy,
which means Westinghouse is an equal partner with other bidders in the tender.
He added that Westinghouse's chance will depend on the bid it submits next
year. The offer has to be competitive in relation to other bids. Taking into
account the Czech experience with the US firm, it can be considered one of the
favorites.
According to Czech government, safety, quality and efficiency will be the main
criteria in the tender. The government will, however, also consider a strategic
point of view. Commercial and technical indicators will be taken into account
in assessing the bids.
Westinghouse had taken part in the construction of the first two units at
Temelin. It had also supplied nuclear fuel to the plant but this year the supplies
have been taken over by the Russian firm TVEL that won the tender back in 2006.
The Czech Republic has nuclear energy experts with experience in building of
nuclear power plants. Their knowledge can be useful for the Americans who are
considering plans for renaissance of nuclear energy. US President Mr Barack
Obama in February spoke in favor of the construction of the first new nuclear
power plant in the USA in thirty years.
Mr Kocourek said that "The declaration is opening up new possibilities in
R&D, which is very important from a point of view of looking for new ways
of how to cover the two countries' energy needs in the future."
The Czech Republic and the USA also want to pay more attention to bilateral
trade in the future. Mr Kocourek's visit in Washington is thus the beginning of
the Czech US trade dialogue that should encourage bilateral trade and
investments. The focus will be on R&D, IT and energy.
The form of the dialogue will be discussed in Washington by Czech deputy
industry and trade minister Mr Milan Hovorka and his American colleague Mr Juan
Verde. Mr Hovorka will also have talks in the US economic chamber and will go
on a tour of Honeywell's technology centre. Honeywell runs factories in the
Czech Republic.
Data from the Czech Industry and Trade Ministry show that the USA is the 14th
biggest trade partner for the Czech Republic and the 13th biggest export
market. The USA makes up around 3 percent of Czech foreign trade turnover.
America is also the 9th largest foreign direct investor in the country.
The Czech Republic has also made big investments in the USA recently. Ceska
gumarenska spolecnost, a company producing agricultural tyre brands Mitas and
Continental, wants to build a USD 43.81 million factory in Charles City. Linet,
which produces medical beds and health care equipment, also plans to build a
plant in the USA.
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