The competition to win Dukovany nuclear power plant deal in Czech has been narrowed down to five candidates including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power after France-Japan consortium ATMEA dropped out of the race.

According to industry sources Tuesday, Czech power utility CEZ held the second round of talks at the turn of October with five candidates willing to become suppliers for the construction of the Dukovany nuclear power plant.

The five candidates include KHNP, China’s CGN, France’s EdF, Russia’s Rosatom and Westinghouse of the US.

According to CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz, the talks focused on the model of the nuclear power plant so that the candidates could start preparing for the tender.

The CEZ CEO Daniel Benes said that the winner should be selected by the end of 2022.

The Czech government will loan 70 percent of the costs interest free, and charge an interest rate of 2 percent after the plant begins operation.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)