Source: Press release ČEZ, a. s.
ČEZ group has selected a supplier of containers for used nuclear fuel assemblies for Temelín Nuclear Power Plant. Following a public tender, the selected supplier was ŠKODA JS. The Pilsen based manufacturer will thus continue its current contract from 2015. The value of the contract is estimated in the billions of crowns. The first supply will take place in 2029.
ČEZ announces public tenders for suppliers of containers for used fuel assemblies at approximately ten-year intervals. The first time CEZ selected a supplier of an important engineering product for Temelín was in 2006, whereas the second time was in 2015.
"With regard to technical development, price or even current fuel supply, we select container suppliers for approximately ten years. The competition is focused on obtaining good offers and meeting the licensing requirements regarding fuel supply,“
The new and former supplier is ŠKODA JS from Pilsen. New containers will also allow the storage of fuel from new suppliers. Last year, ČEZ already selected the American company Westinghouse and the French company Framatome to supply fuel sets. The first fuel from new suppliers should be received by ČEZ in 2024/25. "The possibility to store fuel assemblies from different manufacturers was one of the parameters of the tender," Bohdan Zronek added.
According to the outcome of the tender, ŠKODA JS will gradually deliver sixty containers to Temelín Nuclear Power Plant. Until then, ŠKODA JS will produce containers for Temelín according to the current contract from 2015. "The contract provides for the delivery of 58 containers; ŠKODA JS has already delivered 20 containers, and we expect another six this year," noted Jan Kruml, Director of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant.
Before using the new containers, ŠKODA JS must obtain approval from the State Office for Nuclear Safety.
ČEZ stores spent fuel assemblies in the premises of both nuclear power plants. Each of the nuclear power plants has its own storage. Dukovany NPP has two storage facilities with a total capacity of 193 containers. The existing Temelín storage with capacity of 152 storage containers has been in operation since 2010. It currently houses 63 containers of spent fuel assemblies. Annually, the power engineers place four to six containers of fuel from which electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of all Czech households is generated in the storage area of a larger room. The assemblies in the containers can be placed for up to sixty years.
The containers are monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency using industrial cameras as part of agreements on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Container parameters for Temelín Nuclear Power Plant
Full weight is 115 tonnes
Empty weight is 100 tonnes
Height 5.5 m
Diameter 2.3 m
Number of fuel assemblies in one container - 19
The container can be transported from the power plant to the spent fuel storage facility as long as its surface temperature does not exceed 85 °C.
Since the beginning of the year, the Temelín power plant has generated 8.2 terawatt hours of electricity. Together with Dukovany NPP, these are the sources that produce the largest amount of clean electricity and thus contribute significantly to the emission-free production of the ČEZ Group. Annually, thanks to nuclear power plants, approximately twenty million tons of CO2 are not emitted into the air.
Marek Sviták, spokesperson of ČEZ, Temelín NPP
Source: press release ČEZ, a. s. (the original in Czech here)
Cover photo: ŠKODA JS a.s.