Turkey asks nuke plant bidders to extend bids

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Turkey asks nuke plant bidders to extend bids
  
ANKARA, April 7 (Reuters) - Turkey on Friday asked three consortia 
bidding for a $2.5-$4 billion nuclear power plant tender to extend 
their bids to April 21 due to a setback in treasury finance 
guarantees. 

It was the eighth extension since bids were first collected in 1997. 
The energy ministry earlier cancelled a news conference slated for 
1430 GMT at which it was due to announce the winning consortium among 
the bidders. The consortia have until April 14 to notify the ministry 
whether they accept the extension. 

Officials at TEAS, Turkey's state power producer, earlier blamed the 
delay on a setback in government approval of a treasury guarantee 
needed for the project, which will be financed by the building 
consortium. 

A treasury department letter in March said the project could not be 
financed this year and so should be delayed until 2001. But energy 
ministry officials later said the government had studied the letter 
and decided the project could go ahead because it did not require any 
treasury guarantees this year. 

Bidders in the tender for the three-decade-long project include three 
consortia -- one led by U.S. Westinghouse Electric Co., a unit of 
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.; another by Canada's AECL; and a third by 
Franco-German Nuclear Power International (NPI). 

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