Rusatom Overseas, the foreign marketing arm of Russian state nuclear construction company Rosatom, has upped the pressure on its two rival bidders to build two new reactors at Temelín by saying it can finance the whole project if need be. Areva of France and Westinghouse, a US unit of Japan’s Toshiba, have refused to give such a commitment. The move puts pressure on ČEZ and the Czech state if financing becomes the key issue for Temelín’s expansion.

Anti-nuclear protestors gathered in Mitterteich, Bavaria, on Sunday —  the first anniversary of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan — to voice their opposition to nuclear power in general, and specifically against expanding the Temelín power plant in South Bohemia, where the Czech state-controlled power major ČEZ intends to construct two new reactor blocks by 2025. 

Promises of a nuclear renaissance have fizzled out — not over Fukushima, but over financing — with the cost of building new plants soaring. Czech electricity producer ČEZ says its own cash flow could fund two new Temelín reactors, but the resulting scrimping and constrictions would not be welcome. Partnerships and support options may help lighten the load. But will ČEZ look to the British, Finnish, or American financing models? 

The French bank BNP Paribas has won a tender called by ČEZ to find a partner to finance the Kč 200 billion expansion of its Temelín nuclear power plant — if the power company decides not to go it alone, Czech Position has learned from a trusted source within the domestic energy sector. BNP Paribas beat out six other invited contenders: Citibank, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Rothschild and HSCB.