We discussed cooperation between Czech and French companies at the Nuclear Industry Day in Paris

In the representative premises of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Paris, an international seminar called Nuclear Industry Day took place in June. It was organized by the consultancy company EPDOR International. The event was attended by five Czech and eight French companies - leading players in the nuclear industry. The goal of the meeting was to present each other's competences and possibilities of cooperation.

In the first part of the meeting, representatives of EPDOR International, SIGMA Group, Škoda JS, ZAT, ÚJV Řež and ACT Řanda Havel Legal spoke on behalf of the Czech side. For the French side, representatives of EKIUM, Setec, Bilfinger LTM, Georgin, Gifen, Lemer, Framatome and EDF presented their competences.

In the afternoon part of the Nuclear Industry Day, bilateral meetings were held between individual Czech and French companies according to the fields in which they can cooperate with each other. "To our French partners we introduced ZAT's competences in the nuclear industry in the field of control of primary and secondary part of nuclear power plants, presented our references in Europe and worldwide and offered our know-how in the construction of new nuclear blocks in the Czech Republic," says Karel Stočes, who attended the event on behalf of ZAT, together with Jaroslav Neužil.

Czech-French cooperation

French EDF is one of the serious interested parties in the completion of nuclear blocks in the Czech Republic. It currently operates 24 nuclear power plants and is building 8 more in the United Arab Emirates and Korea. EDF offers the Czech Republic an EPR reactor with a capacity of 1200 MW for the completion of nuclear blocks. This is based on the 1650 MW EPR (same design and safety systems and equipment), but with 1200 MW capacity as required for the Dukovany nuclear power plant.

ZAT has a long-term partnership with EDF. "We are currently supplying 58 KCF system cabinets for the Group, in cooperation with Framatome, which provide diagnostic and information functions on twenty blocks of eight nuclear power plants in France," adds Karel Stočes. According to him, during the presentation in Paris, the EDF representative highlighted the advanced stage of ZAT's qualification as the selected supplier, as well as the fact that he perceived us as a competent Czech company in the field of control of primary and secondary parts of nuclear power plants. The qualification should be completed in the second half of this year with an external audit.

"It is crucial for the Czech industry that the French partners are aware of the importance and potential of the Czech nuclear power supply industry and are ready to respect it when participating in and potentially building a new nuclear power source," says Ivo Tichý, member of the ZAT Board of Directors.

EDF followed up the Nuclear Industry Day in Paris with the French-Czech Day of EDF Suppliers 2021, which took place at the Embassy of the French Republic in Prague on 24 June 2021 and which was also attended by representatives of our company.