The company is choosing between US giant Westinghouse, the US-Japanese grouping GE Hitachi and Britain's Rolls-Royce, CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz told AFP.

France's "EDF was also in contention but pulled out in January as they decided to change their technology," said Kriz.

He added that CEZ was planning to install up to 10 small modular reactors (SMR) by 2050.

CEZ, which runs the Temelin and Dukovany nuclear plants in the south of the country, said last year it expected to launch its first SMR at Temelin in 2032.

Compared with conventional nuclear reactors, the SMRs are relatively simple to build, as their systems and components can be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation.

They are also more affordable than large power reactors and bear low risk of a serious accident.

Nuclear energy produced at Temelin and Dukovany makes up around 30 percent of total power output in the Czech Republic, an EU member of 10.9 million people.

But its share is expected to rise to half as coal-fired power stations are gradually phased out as part of a shift towards greener energy resources.

In July, CEZ announced it had chosen South Korean power giant KHNP to build two conventional nuclear units worth almost nine billion dollars at Dukovany.

KHNP beat EDF in the tender, while Westinghouse was ruled out earlier over flaws in its offer.

Both Westinghouse and EDF have recently appealed the result to the Czech antitrust office.

The government expects the first new KHNP reactor to be launched in trial operation in 2036.

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