Ruling and opposition lawmakers call for hearing on contractor switch

Daewoo E&C union alleges pre-set replacement plan

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power rebuffs 'tampering' claims

An aerial view of Dukovany, the planned site for the new Czech nuclear power plant. [Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power]
An aerial view of Dukovany, the planned site for the new Czech nuclear power plant. [Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power]

A growing dispute over the replacement of the main contractor for the Dukovany nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic has put a parliamentary hearing squarely in focus. With allegations that Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power deliberately collapsed contract negotiations to steer the work toward a favored company, so-called "tampering" is expected to emerge as the central issue if a hearing goes ahead.

At a full session of the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee held Friday morning, lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties called one after another for the contractor-replacement issue to be taken up at a hearing.

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, and called for a hearing to get to the truth and for the Assembly to throw its weight behind the nuclear exports drive. Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Hee-seung also proposed holding a hearing along the same lines.

No formal agreement to convene a hearing has been reached, but the back-to-back calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have given the prospect considerable momentum.

The controversy erupted on Oct. 29, when Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power announced it was ending contract negotiations with the Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Doosan Enerbility consortium.

The two sides had been at odds over changes to the scope of construction and how costs would be shared. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, citing the Barakah nuclear power plant project in the UAE as a precedent, insisted on a lump-sum fixed-price contract under which the contractor absorbs various project risks within the amount agreed at signing.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction, by contrast, argued for a unit-price settlement arrangement that would allow additional costs to be billed separately if construction volumes increased after the detailed design was finalized. The company also asked the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources to mediate and reopen negotiations.

Beyond the dispute over construction costs and risk allocation, the manner in which the talks broke down has itself become a flashpoint. The Daewoo Engineering & Construction union alleged Monday that Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power had already been planning to replace the contractor with a specific construction company before it announced the breakdown. The union also said that even after Daewoo Engineering & Construction submitted a final revised proposal accepting hundreds of billions of won in losses, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power declared the negotiations over in about 30 minutes.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power rebuffed the union's claims, saying it had not pre-selected any specific construction company as the new contractor. It also said the negotiation deadline had been set in consultation with the project owner and shared with Daewoo Engineering & Construction in advance.

As the two sides continue trading statements and rebuttals, a hearing — if convened — is expected to scrutinize not only construction costs and contract terms but also the tampering allegations and the circumstances surrounding the breakdown of talks.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power says that even with a contractor change, it remains on track to file for a construction permit in April 2027 and break ground in November 2029 without any schedule disruption. Industry observers, however, warn that if the risk-sharing terms remain unchanged, finding a replacement contractor could prove difficult.

"If the contract terms stay the same, it won't be easy to find a company willing to bid — unless the next contractor has already been decided," a construction industry official said. "If the contractor is changed, the question of whether the schedule can still be met also needs to be examined."

The Dukovany nuclear power plant project carries a total budget of 422 billion Czech koruna (about $19.5 billion), under which Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power will supply two units of the APR1000, a 1,000 MW Korean-designed reactor, at the Dukovany site in the Czech Republic.


lucky@heraldcorp.com