Application in for new Temelin units

Friday, 30 November 2012

An application to build two new reactors at the Temelin plant has been submitted to the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) by utility CEZ.

How Temelin would appear with four units (Image: CEZ)

Under Czech law, the SUJB now has up to four months to review the application, although it can suspend its review if it requires further information from CEZ. It said that the time it takes to complete its review will depend on how well the supporting documentation has been prepared and how CEZ responds to any requests it makes.

CEZ has also published a 'tender security report'. The 830-page document was put together by 35 experts from CEZ and other institutions, such as the Nuclear Research Institute Rez. Under Czech law, such a report must be submitted to the SUJB for evaluation alongside a construction licence application. In particular, the tender security report describes and evaluates the characteristics of the Temelin site, such as its geological and seismological features, hydrological and climatic conditions, as well as human activities in the vicinity of the plant (such as gas extraction, industrial production, etc).

The document also describes and evaluates the project concept, quality issues, the environmental impact of construction traffic, decommissioning options and analyzes the necessary physical protection of the plant. The most important outcome of the report, CEZ said, is the so-called design basis for the new units, which will have to meet all the criteria set by nuclear legislation.

Iva Kubanova, manager of quality and safety for the Temelin unit 3 and 4 project, said: "The fact that there are already two operating units at Temelin has only partially helped us. The advantage, of course, is the large amount of input data we have available and the safety records of the existing units and the results of stress tests." She added, "However, we had some data to update or to supplement so that they could be evaluated with state-of-the-art methods. We also carried out an extensive analysis of all requirements under Czech nuclear legislation, standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency and by the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association, and incorporated them into the tender safety report."

CEZ launched the tender process for the new Temelin units in August 2009 and invited three candidates - Areva; a consortium between Škoda JS, AtomStroyExport and OKB Gidropress; and Westinghouse - in November 2011 to submit bids. All three contenders submitted documentation supporting their respective bids in late June 2012. However, in October, CEZ told Areva that its bid had been disqualified. Areva subsequently lodged a petition with the Czech anti-monopoly office. CEZ expects to select the reactor supplier and sign the construction contract by the end of 2013.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News