South Korea sets up emergency system for Czech nuclear project

South Korea's industry ministry said on Monday it will launch an emergency management system to keep its nuclear power project in the Czech Republic on track, South Korea's national news agency Yonhap reported.

Under the system, the government will draw up measures to keep the project moving and to stop similar setbacks from happening again, the ministry said.

The step follows the collapse of talks between state-run nuclear operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) and a South Korean consortium of Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and Doosan Enerbility Co. over a construction contract for the Dukovany plant.

KHNP ended those negotiations last week after the two sides failed to agree on key terms.

The ministry was set to hold its first meeting on Monday to discuss follow-up steps.

KHNP said it will formally conclude the negotiations and begin preparing a new tender to select a construction contractor.

The company aims to sign a contract with a new consortium by July 2027, allowing construction to begin in November that year.

"The minister and vice minister will personally review key issues every week," Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said.

The Dukovany project is valued at about 25 trillion won ($17.5 billion) and involves building two 1,000-megawatt APR1000 reactors, a South Korean-designed model, in the Czech Republic.

A KHNP-led consortium won the project last year, and KHNP then entered contract talks with the Daewoo-Doosan group, which had been designated as the construction contractor.