The Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic (ÚJD SR) has issued a resolution about the approval of the first stage of decommissioning the V1 NPP.
On Tuesday, the 19th of July 2011 the ÚJD SR has issued resolution Nr. 400/2011 which approves the first stage of decommissioning the V1 NPP.
The ÚJD SR resolution was issued upon request of the JAVYS company from 17. 12. 2010 and the approval European Commission in compliance with the EURATOM Treaty.
The request included 21 documents, which were thoroughly evaluated and which contained, among other things, the positions and the resolutions of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, the plan for radioactive waste management and transport and a plan for conventional waste management, the quality system documentation and demands for the quality of the nuclear facility, the system of employee training, the internal accident emergency plan, the analysis of the danger zone of the V1 NPP, limits and requirements for safe decommissioning, the plan for the 1st decommissioning stage, the decommissioning concept for the period after the approved decommissioning stage and the securement of financial backing for settlement in case of nuclear damage.
The approval for decommissioning the V1 NPP is actually the first to be issued in Slovakia for such a type of nuclear facility. For the power plant itself this is the beginning of the final stage of its existence.
In connection with the 1st decommissioning stage of the V1 NPP the JAVYS company also received resolutions from the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic (ÚVZ SR):
- Resolution Nr: OOZPŽ/3761/2011 — Approval of activities leading to irradiation during the 1st stage of decommissioning the V1 NPP, and
- Resolution Nr: OOZPŽ/3760/2011 — Approval for releasing radioactive substances from administrative control by ventilating fumes through chimneys and in waste waters of the V1 NPP
Resolutions of the ÚJD SR and the ÚVZ SR are valid since the 20th of July, 2011.
During the seventies of the last century, the then Czechoslovak government reevaluated the strategy concept for nuclear energy and it decided to found it on a proven and industrially tested type of reactor. They chose the VVER 440 pressurized water reactor, which then formed a base for the development of nuclear energetics in Czechoslovakia for the following 15–20 years.
In April 1970 an inter-governmental contract was signed for the construction of two VVER 2x440 MW reactors (water-water energetic reactor, type V 230 — V1 NPP), between Czechoslovakia and the USSR.The construction of the V1 NPP started on the 24th of April, 1972, and was backed by the Energetics Investment Bank of Slovakia. Its main suppliers were the Energoprojekt Praha, LOTEP Leningrad, ŠKODA Praha, Hydrostav Bratislava and ŠKODAEXPORT Praha.
The investment amounted to 5.5 billion Kčs in the prices of the construction years.
The first reactor unit of the V1 NPP was connected to the grid on the 17th of December, 1978, and the second unit on the 26th of March, 1980. During its tim in operation the power plant has produced over 159,000,000 MWh, which is approximately 5.7 times the yearly consumption of Slovakia.
The operation of the V1 NPP was reliable, safe, ecologic, economical, and it proved the soundness of the policy of orienting towards this means of power production.
The contribution to the preservation of the environment should also not be neglected. The minimal number of fuel transports, zero oxygen consumption, zero emissions — in terms of greenhouse gases extremely becoming to the environment.
The JAVYS company has fulfilled the Slovak Republic government resolution to prematurely discontinue two units of the V1 NPP in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Following that the company started to work in compliance with the Operation Termination Concept.
Immediately after the power down of the units, JAVYS has been securing their cooling down, and realized spent fuel transports from the reactor to the spent fuel pool and from there into an interim spent fuel storage facility. It has secured the processing and taking away of nuclear waste and gradually disconnected individual equipment.
The decommissioning of the V1 NPP is planned in two stages with the deadline in 2025. The overall cost for decommissioning the V1 are currently estimated at € 1.1 billion. In the 1st stage of decommissioning, between 2011 and 2015, the dismantling of non-active systems and equipment, the demolition of buildings and processing of radioactive waste produced during the decommissioning is planned.
Ing. Dobroslav Dobák
Spokesman
For more information
V1 NPP Milestones
History V1 NPP
International Missions in the V1 NPP
Increasing Nuclear Safety
Operation Evaluation
Power Production and the Environment
