KHNP CEO Whang Joo-ho, second from left, talks in a meeting with the industry ministry officials of the Czech Republic during his visit on Sept. 19. Photo courtesy of KHNP

CEO Whang Joo-ho visits the Czech Republic and Poland

The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced on Sept. 22 that its CEO Whang Joo-ho was accelerating the export of Korean nuclear power plants by visiting the Czech Republic and Poland this week.

It marks the new CEO’s second overseas trip since he took office midway through last month. He flew to Egypt for a nuclear deal in three days after his inauguration.

CEO Whang met with Czech Industry and Trade Minister Josef Sikela and Chief Nuclear Officer Bohdan Zronek of Czech Power Corporation (CEZ) on Sep. 19.

The following day, he had meetings with the Polish Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Mateusz Berger and Polish Climate and Environment Deputy Minister Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska.

During the meetings, the KHNP said that Whang had gone over the safety, economic feasibility, and construction capacity of Korean nuclear power plants.

He also emphasized that KHNP would be the best supplier for the nuclear power projects of the Czech Republic and Poland, according to the state-backed outfit.

The CEO also touched on the resumption of the construction of Shin-Hanul Units three and four and the launching of the Nuclear Power Export Strategy Committee to show how much the Korean government is interested in increasing the number of domestic nuclear power plants and supporting nuclear power exports.

Joint nuclear power projects to a third-party country between the Korea-Czech Republic and Korea-Poland, development of innovative small modular reactors, joint nuclear R&D, cultivating talents, and other win-win strategies were also points of discussion. 

The Czech project aims to construct one pressurized water reactor unit with a capacity of up to 1,200 MW in Dukovany.

Last March, a tender was launched for this project to choose a supplier among KHNP, Westinghouse Electric Company from the United States, and EDF from France.

The three suppliers are required to submit preliminary bids by the end of November. The preferred bidder will enter into the final agreement in 2024.

Winning this project is viewed to be granted an advantageous position in winning three other nuclear power construction projects that is scheduled by the Czech government.

The Polish nuclear power project is about constructing six pressurized water reactor units with a capacity of 6~9GW in Poland. KHNP, Westinghouse Electric Company, and EDF submitted proposals for this project. The Polish government plans to make an intergovernmental agreement for selecting the supplier, hopefully within the year.

“We will give our all to win the nuclear power projects of the Czech Republic and Poland, based on the excellent technologies that we have accumulated for decades while constructing and operating nuclear power plants,” Whang said.
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