Czech Republic: AREVA will appeal against CEZ’s decision

AREVA disagrees with CEZ’s exclusion notification in the TEMELIN 3&4 project. Considering CEZ decision as baseless, the Group has decided to appeal and to call for a suspension of the bid procedure.

The group believes that its detailed offer handed to CEZ last July is compliant with statutory requirements and has been misunderstood in many respects. AREVA has provided in its letter dated 19th October detailed objections to each of the reasons for exclusion raised by CEZ.

AREVA regrets in such an important project the absolute lack of dialogue. AREVA had no opportunity to clarify its offer or answer any questions and concerns CEZ might have had.

“I deeply regret that AREVA is penalized based on matters that have never been discussed between the parties before, without any dialogue or clarification process, both of which are a standard in a nuclear industry where transparency and dialogue are key. AREVA’s offer meets the highest level of quality in terms of technical and performance capabilities, as well as in respect of commercial conditions”, said Luc Oursel, AREVA CEO.

AREVA is now forced to take all legal actions available under Czech and EU laws with the objective of returning to the Temelin 3 & 4 tender process. The first of these actions will be an appeal against CEZ’s decision on AREVA’s objections to its exclusion that AREVA will file with the Czech Office for the Protection of Economic Competition, a body responsible for supervision of public procurement processes.

AREVA remains fully committed to the Temelin project and related commercial activities, as well as its long-lasting commercial and industrial relationship with the Czech industry. The EPR™ reactor meets the highest safety standards and is the only Generation III+ nuclear reactor design licensed in Europe.