Nuclear Power in Slovakia

(October 2009)

• Slovakia has five nuclear reactors generating half of its electricity and two more under construction.
• Its first commercial nuclear power reactor began operating in 1972.
• Government commitment to the future of nuclear energy is strong.

Electricity consumption in Slovakia has been fairly steady since 1990. Generating capacity in 2006 was 8.2 GWe, 32% of this nuclear. In 2007, 27.7 billion kWh gross was produced, 55% of this from nuclear power. Slovakia has gone from being a net exporter of electricity - some 2 billion kWh/yr, to being a net importer following shut-down of the Bohunice V1 reactors. Per capita consumption is about 4400 kWh/yr. All of the country's gas comes from Russia.

Nuclear industry development

In 1958 the Czechoslovak government started building its first nuclear power plant - a gas-cooled heavy water reactor at Bohunice (now in Slovakia). This 104 MWe Bohunice A1 reactor, built by Skoda, was completed in 1972 and ran until 1977. It was closed following a severe accident during refuelling.

In 1972 construction of the present Jaslovske Bohunice plant commenced, with two VVER 440 type 230 reactors (V1 plant) built by Atomenergoexport of Russia and Skoda. The first was grid connected in 1978. In 1976 construction started on two type 213 reactors (V2 plant) built by Skoda. All were designed by Energoproject.

In 1981 construction of the four-unit Mochovce nuclear power plant was commenced by Skoda, using VVER 440/213 reactor units. Work on units 3 & 4 was started in 1986 and halted in 1992. Units 1 & 2 have been significantly upgraded and the instrument and control systems replaced with assistance from western companies. Units 3 & 4 remain partly built and have been maintained.

Bohunice V2 and Mochovce are owned and operated by the state Slovak Electric (SE) utility. The Nuclear Decommissioning Company, Javys, owns and operated Bohunice V1.

Operating Slovak power reactors

Reactors	Model V=PWR	Net MWe	First power	Announced closure
Bohunice 3 V2	V-213	436	1984	2025
Bohunice 4 V2	V-213	452	1985	2025
Mochovce 1	V-213	436	1998
Mochovce 2	V-213	436	1999
Total (4)		1760 MWe

An upgrade program on Bohunice units 3 & 4 is under way to improve seismic resistance, cooling systems, and instrument & control (I&C) systems with a view to extending operational life to 40 years (2025). Areva NP has been replacing the I&C systems progressively, and SE aims to increase the power of both units to 500 MWe gross. In September 2009 unit 4 went to 485 MWe gross (452 MWe net) from 455, while unit 3 was at 469 MWe (436 MWe net).

SE is reported to be planning 62 MWe uprates of both Mochovce units by 2011.

EU accession issues

After reviews of their safety, phase 1 upgrading of Bohnuice V1 (units 1 & 2) was undertaken 1991-95, and phase 2 - intended to achieve western European standards - through to 2000. In 2001 Slovakia relicensed Bohunice V1 units for another decade (until the next full safety review), though following the upgrades their operating life was expected to run until 2015.

Under duress, as a precondition for Slovak entry into the EU in 2004, the Slovak government committed to closing the Bohunice V1 units 1 and 2 due to perceived safety deficiencies in that early model reactor. The original date specified for closing them down was 2000, though subsequently 2006 and 2008 were agreed in relation to EU accession.

The latter dates were set despite their recent major refurbishment, including replacement of the emergency core cooling systems and modernising the control systems. Bohunice 1 was the first V-230 unit outside the Soviet Union and had had more upgrading work on it than any other one of its type, costing some US$ 300 million since 1991. An IAEA mission in 2000 reported that for the V1 units "all safety issues identified earlier by the IAEA have been appropriately addressed." Slovakia claimed that all their design safety deficiencies have been removed by the safety upgrading, and this had been confirmed by international expert safety review missions.

The Slovak government had to reconcile its regulator's judgement that the plant is safe for long-term operation with the EU demand for its closure - based, it is claimed, on information which was out of date even at the time.

The units were producing electricity at half the average cost for all Slovak sources, and their closure before Mochovce units 3 & 4 are on line will leave the country short of power.

In the lead up to EU accession in 2004, nuclear industry representatives from eastern Europe called for the introduction of transparent and rational EU safety standards rather than punitive closures of reactors which had been substantially upgraded. In particular the Slovak Bohunice 1 & 2 units were cited as prime examples of the high safety standards which such reactors could achieve through upgrading with input from western firms such as Siemens.

In the event, unit 1 of the Jaslovske Bohunice plant was closed at the end of December 2006, eliminating about 9% of Slovakia's electricity supply. The second unit of the V1 plant with the same type of reactor was closed at the end of 2008. The Prime Minister said that he respected the decision to shut down the plant, but considered it as "energy treason" by the previous government, with Slovakia becoming an electricity importer. He suggested that it might be possible to restart the V1 units in future.

New nuclear capacity

In October 2004 the government approved Italian ENEL's bid to acquire 66% of SE as part of its privatisation process. ENEL's subsequent investment plan approved in 2005 involves EUR 1.88 billion investment to increase generating capacity, including EUR 1.6 billion for completion of Mochovce units 3 & 4 - 942 MWe gross.

In January 2006 the government approved a new energy strategy incorporating these plans, with capacity uprate at Mochovce 1 & 2 in 2007 and a further 18 MWe by 2012, and a 120 MWe (gross) uprate of Bohunice 3 & 4 by 2010. After approval from the regulator, power was increased by 7% at Mochovce 1 & 2 in June 2008, apparently to 435 MWe net, 470 MWe gross.

In February 2007 SE announced that it would proceed with Mochovce 3 & 4 construction, and that ENEL had agreed to invest EUR 1.8 billion on this with a view to operation in 2012-13. SE has already invested EUR 576 million in the two units, so with the renewed commitment they are now listed by WNA as under construction, though engineering work has yet to resume. Site works began in 2008 and the total project is quoted at EUR 2.775 billion. However, the government is depending substantially on the original 1986 construction permit including environmental clearance, which is now being challenged, with the need for a full new environmental impact assessment under EU law being asserted.

In mid 2008 the European Commission approved SE's plans for Mochovce 3 & 4 subject to the design being brought into line with existing best practice for resistance to aircraft impacts. It is not clear what this means, though the approval is simply to enable financing. The reactor's containment walls will be 1.5 metres thick and apparently the plant will be in compliance with safety requirements established in 2007 by the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association for existing reactors. This include emergency core cooling systems.

In June 2009 SE signed contracts for completion of Mochovce 3 & 4 nuclear island with Skoda JS, Atomstroyexport, and others. The Skoda JS contract for more than EUR 370 million is to supply the remaining nuclear island equipment (beyond that delivered 20 years earlier), with part of the instrumentation and control system from Siemens. It includes detailed design, installation, commissioning, testing and startup. Contracts for engineering, construction and project management of the conventional island were signed with ENEL Ingegneria & Innovazione, and will involve the use of Skoda Power steam turbines. Construction work resumed in June 2009, for 2012 and 2013 start up, but uprating is planned by 2015, adding 60 MWe total to the original 880 MWe gross.

Slovak power reactors under construction and planned

Reactors	Model V=PWR	Net MWe	First power	operator
Mochovce 3	V-213	420	9/2012	SE
Mochovce 4	V-213	420	2013	SE
Total under construction (2)		840 MWe
Bohunice 5 V3	?	1200	by 2020	Jess: Javys-CEZ
Kecerovce	?	1200	2025?	?

The government proposed a fifth unit at Bohunice and another at a new site in the east of the country: Kecerovce. In 2007 both Czech utility CEZ and the German E-ON notified their interest in building new reactors at Bohunice. A nuclear cooperation agreement with France signed in September 2008 brought EdF and Areva in to the picture for this.

Plans for Bohunice 5 (V3) were announced in April 2008: for 1000-1600 MWe, probably using western technology to enable MOX use. In December Czech utility CEZ was announced as the 49% JV partner, with state-owned Javys holding 51%. The formal Jess joint venture agreement was signed in May 2009. Financing is to be finalised in 2011 and construction is planned to start in 2013, the expected cost being EUR 3.3 billion for a 1200 MWe unit. An 18-month feasibility study will be followed by calling tenders for one or two PWR units. Areva and Westinghouse are considered the main contenders.

The government's list of priority power projects beyond Bohunice V3 include another 1200 MWe nuclear plant at Kecerovce after the closure of Bohunice V2 units about 2025, with estimated cost of EUR 3.5 billion.

Fuel cycle

All fuel supply is contracted from TVEL in Russia.

Tournigan Energy Ltd based in Canada is investigating the Kuriskova uranium deposit and has announced an NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for it including an indicated resource of 3000 tonnes U3O8 grading 0.435% U3O8, and an inferred resource of 13,700 tonnes U3O8 grading 0.299% U3O8, using a cut-off of 0.05% U.

Radioactive Waste Management

Originally the policy was for used fuel to be disposed of without reprocessing, but in 2008 this changed to recycling it domestically. In 1996 the decommissioning and radioactive waste management organisation now known as Javys was spun off SE, and is based at Bohunice. Then a separate subsidiary of SE - Decom - was set up as a consultancy to focus on decommissioning.

An interim wet storage facility for used fuel at Bohunice supplements reactor storage ponds, and has a capacity of 1680 tonnes (14,000 fuel assemblies). It has functioned since 1986 and is operated by Javys (Jadrová vyraďovacia spoločnosť or Nuclear Decommissioning Company). Some used fuel was earlier exported to Russia for reprocessing (with Russia keeping the products).

Site selection for an underground high-level waste repository has commenced.A treatment and conditioning plant for low- and intermediate-level wastes is operated by Javys at Bohunice, with near-surface repository at Mochovce commissioned in 1999.

A state fund for radwaste management and decommissioning was set up in 1995, with a levy of 10% of the wholesale price of electricity being paid into it by SE. It is expected to amount to EUR 775 million by 2010.

A long-term used fuel storage facility is expected to cost about SK 4 billion (EUR 100 million). Decom, with the Association for Regional & International Underground Storage (ARIUS - based in Switzerland), is running an EC-funded project to undertake a pilot study on the technical and legal requirements for a regional waste repository. This SAPIERR project is related to the needs of countries with smaller nuclear programs, and it involves 21 organisations from 14 countries.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Co, Javys PLC, owns Bohunice A1 and V1 and operated unit 2 until closure at the end of 2008. The first phase of decommissioning the A1 reactor was completed in 2007.

Preparation for decommissioning the two Bohunice V1 reactors will begin in 2012, that work taking 13 years at an estimated cost of about EUR 500 million.

Regulation and safety

The Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic (UJDSR) is the independent regulatory body responsible for licensing, safety, waste management, radiation protection and safeguards.

In 1999 WENRA, the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association, reported that the country's nuclear regulatory regime was comparable with those in Western Europe.

Non-proliferation

The Slovak Republic is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1993 as a non-nuclear weapons state. Its safeguards agreement under the NPT came into force in 1993 and a new agreement in 1999. It is member of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and since May 2004, of Euratom. The Additional Protocol in relation to its safeguards agreements with the IAEA was signed in 1999.

References:
IAEA 2002, Country Nuclear Power Profiles
Energy in E Europe 3/2/06.See also paper on: Early Soviet Reactors and EU Accession

參考來源:World Nuclear Association