CEZ likely to scale back nuclear expansion plan

PRAGUE Jan 9 (Reuters) - Czech power company CEZ will likely scale back its nuclear expansion tender because of new legal restrictions on public procurement, a decision that would reduce the potential size of the deal by some $15 billion.

A company spokesman said CEZ was likely to drop an option to build three new reactors in addition to two planned units at the Temelin nuclear plant.

The move would significantly reduce the potential value of the contract to the companies planning to bid: France's Areva , Toshiba unit Westinghouse and a consortium of Czech company Skoda JS and Russia's Atomstroyexport.

"The public tender is for two plus three but of course with the legal change it can hardly be expected that the option could be used," CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz said.

A new Czech public procurement law limits the amount of extra work that can take place as part of an option at 30 percent. In this case, it means CEZ would not be able to fund three new units because the extra work in the option would exceed the limit.

Kriz said it was unclear at this point if the option could be part of the contract or not but added the assumption was that it would not be part of the overall deal.

The tender for the two units at Temelin is expected to be worth around $10 billion.

This excludes the other potential three units at other nuclear plants - one at CEZ's Dukovany plant and two in Slovakia. If CEZ wants to build those as well, which is to be decided later, it would have to hold another tender in the future.

A renewal of nuclear technology in Europe has been set back by the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan last year and Germany's subsequent decision to phase out its nuclear stations.

State-controlled CEZ aims to pick the winner of the tender in 2013. (Reporting by Jan Korselt; Writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Michael Kahn and David Holmes)