TVEL to supply fuel to Czech plant

TVEL is already supplying fuel to the Czech Republic's second nuclear power plant, a Russian-designed plant from 1985 located in Dukovany.

Russia's TVEL Corp has been chosen as the supplier of fuel to the Czech nuclear power plant in Temelin near the border with Austria, an official from the state power utility said on Wednesday.

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Ivana Vejvodova, a spokeswoman for the state-run power utility CEZ, said in a statement that TVEL beat the current supplier -- the US nuclear company Westinghouse -- in a tender to supply fuel to the Temelin plant between 2010-2020.

She said some 400 metric tons of fuel will be supplied to Temelin under the contract signed between CEZ and TVEL Wednesday. Located just 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of the Austrian border, the plant has been a source of friction between the Czech Republic and Austria. Critics in Austria argue the plant should be shut down, while Czech authorities insist that it is safe. Construction of the plant's two 1,000-megawatt units, based on Russian design, started in the 1980s. The reactors were later upgraded with US technology, but have remained controversial because of frequent malfunctions.

TVEL is already supplying fuel to the Czech Republic's second nuclear power plant, a Russian-designed plant from 1985 located in Dukovany, 180 kilometers (113 miles) southeast of Prague.