KHNP drops Daewoo-Doosan as Dukovany builder, plans new tender
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readKorea Hydro & Nuclear Power will look for a new construction contractor for the two APR1000 reactors it is building at the Czech Republic's Dukovany site, after negotiations with the Daewoo-Doosan consortium broke down, World Nuclear News reports.
KHNP won the KRW26 trillion (about USD19.4 billion) contract in June 2025, having been named preferred bidder in July 2024. Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Doosan Enerbility had been chosen as construction partners in 2018 and took part in the bid. The two sides could not agree on the subcontract. KHNP wanted a lump-sum price based on quantities fixed at the basic design stage, arguing that it matches the main project agreement and gives cost certainty. The consortium wanted payment adjusted to quantities set at detailed design, including increases in construction volumes.
KHNP said working-level talks, a mediation committee and management-level meetings had failed, and it has begun terminating the joint cooperation agreement. It plans a briefing for bidders in January, bidding from April and a selection by July 2027, though the process is not final. Site preparation is due to begin in January 2028, full construction in November 2029, and the units are scheduled for completion in 2039 and 2040.
Daewoo said KHNP had shifted the cost of design changes onto the contractor and asked for risk contingency to be left out of its estimate. Doosan Enerbility said it would bid again, since existing members are allowed to take part, and that its reactor and turbine generator supply contracts signed with KHNP on 16 December 2025 are unaffected.
What it means
The dispute is about who carries quantity risk between basic and detailed design, the same issue that has pushed up costs on Western nuclear projects. Re-tendering keeps KHNP's fixed-price logic intact but adds a year of uncertainty before site work starts. The published schedule has not changed yet; the test is whether a new builder accepts the lump-sum terms the incumbents rejected.