| Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
| Country | Slovakia |
| Coordinates | |
| Construction began | August 1, 1958 |
| Commission date | December 25, 1972 |
| Decommission date | 2006, 2008 |
| Owner(s) | Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. (V2), Javys, a.s. (A1 and V1) |
| Operator(s) | Electrostation Bohunice |
| Reactor information | |
| Reactors operational | 2 x 505 MW |
| Reactors decom. | 2 x 440 MW, 1 x 143 MW |
| Power generation information | |
| Annual generation | 7,779 GW·h |
| Net generation | 263,471 GW·h |
| As of July 22, 2007 | |
The Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (Slovak: Atómové elektrárne Bohunice, abbr. EBO) is a complex of nuclear reactors situated 2.5 km from the village of Jaslovské Bohunice in the Trnava District in western Slovakia.
Bohunice NPP comprises two plants: V-1 and V-2. Both plants contain two reactor units. The plant was connected to the national power network in stages in the period between 1978 and 1985. The four power reactors are pressurized water reactors of the Soviet VVER-440 design.
Annual electricity generation averages about 12,000 GWh. Upon development of a district heating supply network in the town of Trnava near Bohunice NPP, V-2 switched to co-generation. Part of this system is a heat feeder line commissioned in 1987. In 1997 a heat feeder line to Leopoldov and Hlohovec was begun, branching off from the Trnava line.
The A-1 is another nuclear reactor situated on the Jaslovské Bohunice site. On February 22 1977 the A-1 reactor suffered a major accident during refueling, rated INES-4. This reactor is currently undergoing a decommissioning and cleanup process.
Contents |
As a condition of accession into the European Union (2004) Slovakia was forced to deactivate the two reactors at the V-1 plant. A provision in the accession treaty allowed for reactivation in case of an emergency.
V-1 plant was exempted from Slovenske Eletrarne sale to Enel and trasferred to JAVYS, a national nuclear decommisioning company fully owned by the state. The first reactor was shut down at the end of 2006, the second on the last day of 2008.
The Russia-Ukraine gas dispute in January 2009 disrupted natural gas supplies and electricity generation. On January 10 2009 the Slovak government ordered the second reactor, then still undergoing a shutdown procedure, to be returned into power-generation-capable mode. [1] Eventually, the reactor was not reconnected to the grid and the final shutdown was resumed. [2]
In May 2009 Czech PM Jan Fischer and Slovak PM Robert Fico announced construction of a new reactor unit at Bohunice. A partnership of Czech energy company ČEZ and the Slovak Nuclear and Decommissioning Company (JAVYS) will build the plant, worth around 100 billion Koruna or 3.7 billion Euros.[3] The new reactor has not been settled upon but will be rated at between 600 and 1,600 MWe. Four manufacturers have been mooted as possible suppliers: Mitsubishi, Atomenergoprojekt, Westinghouse and Areva. ČEZ is considering combining this project with their concurrent construction of the third and fourth reactors at Temelín Nuclear Power Station. Such a contract would be worth between 7 and 10 billion Euros. [4]