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Mochovce Nuclear Power Plants
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mochovce Nuclear Power Plants (Slovak: Atómové elektrárne Mochovce, abbr. EMO) is a complex of not yet fully finished nuclear power plants in southern Slovakia, between the towns of Nitra and Levice, in the place of the former village, Mochovce. It is located around 15 km northwest of Levice. Generating 3,000 MWh of electricity a year, the power plant currently covers approximately 10% of Slovakia's energy needs.[1]
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Construction of a new power plant with four Soviet-era VVER 440/213 pressurized water reactors was proposed in the 1970s. The Czechoslovak government initiated a geological survey, as the land had to be seismically stable. After taking into account all factors, the site on the place of the village of Mochovce was chosen. The preparation work started on June 1981 and the construction itself on November 1982, with the first two units, Mochovce-1 and Mochovce-2. Construction of the remaining two units, Mochovce-3 and Mochovce-4, began in 1985. However, construction was halted in 1991 due to the lack of funds. In 1995, the Slovak government approved the plan to finish the first two units, with new Western safety technology implemented. The units were commissioned on 4 July 1998 and 20 December 1999, respectively. The commissioning of the plant has sparked protests in Austria, the neighboring country strongly opposed to the use of nuclear energy in general. The units 3 and 4 are planned to be completed in 2012.[2] Two completed reactors in Mochovce use enriched uranium as their fuel.
Although the original power plant design featured some safety improvements (such as seismically resistant attachment of technological equipment), it did not reflect the state of knowledge during the final phase of construction in the 1990s anymore. Therefore, the German company Siemens supplied a new system and new Western safety measures were implemented. In the 1990s, the power plant became the first Soviet-era nuclear plant in Eastern Europe to reach safety standards comparable to Western ones.[3]
| Station | Reactor type | Net capacity | Commissioned | Grid date | Exp. shutdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mochovce 1 | VVER 440/213 | 440 MWe | 4 July 1998 | 29 October 1998 | 2028 |
| Mochovce 2 | VVER 440/213 | 440 MWe | 20 December 1999 | 11 April 2000 | 2030 |
| Mochovce 3 | VVER 440/213 | 440 MWe | not yet finished | - | - |
| Mochovce 4 | VVER 440/213 | 440 MWe | not yet finished | - | - |
- ^ http://www.seas.sk/?ide=565
- ^ http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok.asp?cl=26870 Slovak Spectator: SE to complete Mochovce nuclear power plant
- ^ http://www.seas.sk/power-plants/nuclear-installations/atomove-elektrarne-mochovce-en/history-of-emo/ History of EMO on the Slovenské elektrárne webpage