“Starting up the nuclear unit is a major milestone; it is great news for our company and for Slovakia, especially now at this time of an energy crisis. Unit 3 of Mochovce and our people are ready for start-up. We will start loading the fuel into the reactor without delay after the permit enters into a legal force,” stated Branislav Stryček, chairman of the board of directors and general director of Slovenské elektrárne, a.s.
The nuclear fuel for the reactor is now ready in the fresh fuel nod.
“After loading the fuel, physical start-up will begin. After that is complete, the power start-up follows, with the reactor power gradually being increased. We need approximately 18 weeks to achieve 100% power,” explained Martin Mráz, director of the Mochovce nuclear power plant.
The commissioning phase ends after all physical and power escalation tests have been completed, with a 144-hour trial run at full power. The reactor unit will start supplying power to the grid after connecting in one of the generators to the grid, which will happen at 20% of nominal power already during power escalation.
“Our top priority in power generation is always safety, and we will take the same approach when commissioning the unit. We have decades of experience in operating nuclear units and a team of internationally renowned experts, who will be in control of the entire process.”
- Branislav Strýček, Chairman and CEO of Slovenské elektrárne, a.s.
Readiness of Unit 3 for operation was also verified by international reviews by the International Atomic Energy Agency (Pre-OSART missions [1]) and the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO mission [2]).
Approximately 450 contractors have been involved in the construction completion project. At the peak of construction at Mochovce, nearly 7000 workers were on site, and by the end of 2021, over 107 million man-hours had been worked on the project.
Slovenské elektrárne, thanks mainly to its nuclear power plants, last year supplied to the grid 94 % of energy CO2-free. The annual production of the unit 3 will save 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is the same as if more than 1 million cars and trucks disappeared from Slovak roads
At start-up, the new nuclear unit at Mochovce will have an installed capacity of 471 MW, covering about 13% of Slovakia’s total electricity consumption. After the start of production, Slovakia will become self-sufficient in electricity supply.
Seven out of ten Slovaks support nuclear energy. Some 60% think that generating electricity at a nuclear power plant is safe. This is shown by the results of a public opinion survey by the ACRC agency for the Slovak Association for Foreign Policy (SFPA) and Slovenské elektrárne, conducted at the turn of June and July 2022.
[1] Pre-Operational Safety Review Team (Pre-OSART)
[2] The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO)
