Units 1 and 2 at Mochovce NPP, Slovakia

The Mochovce NPP project is closely connected with our history

The Mochovce nuclear power plant is a project closely tied to the history of ŠKODA JS – it has been with us for almost forty years to this day. Our involvement in Mochovce NPP started in 1987 when we commenced work as the main contractor of the power plant’s primary circuit and fuel handling systems.

In the south of Slovakia, between Nitra and Levice, there are three units in operation and the last unit under construction at the Mochovce nuclear power plant. All four units are equipped with VVER 440/V-213 pressurized water reactors. The gross power output of the first two units was up-rated from 440 to 470 MWe in 2008.

Stage 1 of construction

According to the original plan, the power plant was to be commissioned at the end of the 1980s. Compared to nuclear units of the same type, the Mochovce project featured several major improvements. A new solution was, for example, the seismic resistance of the plant’s SSC (systems, structures and components). However, at the beginning of the 1990s, the completion of the power plant was hindered by a lack of finance.

The only viable way to ensure that the construction could continue was to search for financial resources abroad. The condition for the participation of foreign capital and the involvement of renowned companies was a comprehensive evaluation of the project and the overall state of the power plant’s equipment. The Mochovce project was subjected to a number of inspections and audits conducted by experts from all over the world, who analyzed the control systems and their safety features. This resulted in a program aimed at increasing nuclear safety, whose implementation was to take place before the commissioning of the power plant.

Before the Mochovce NPP project, we had already gained experience in the construction of eight units with VVER 440 reactors at the Jaslovské Bohunice and Dukovany NPPs. The reactors and other crucial components produced in Pilsen represented already the fourteenth and fifteenth complete equipment sets in the company’s history. Another reactors were produced for Paks NPP (Hungary), Nord NPP (Germany) and Żarnowiec NPP (Poland).

Completion of construction

In 1995, the Slovak government decided that the construction of Units 1 and 2 at the Mochovce NPP would continue, and our newly established division started to work on the new project. ŠKODA JS provided the new formation with technical support in the areas of design, technical preparation for the installation, sales and completion activities as well as tests and start-up. The first unit at the Mochovce NPP was commissioned in October 1998. This was followed by the launch of the second unit in March 2000.

Compliance with the requirements and criteria of safety measures at Units 1 and 2 of the power plant, revised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), laid the foundations for the acceptance of the Completion of Units 3 and 4 at the Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant project by the relevant bodies of the European Union. This project is described in more detail in the reference Units 3 and 4 at the Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant.

Currently, we are involved at the first two units of the Mochovce NPP in regular outages of major and minor projects such as the implementation of part of the EMO12 Large Component Seismic Reinforcement project, crane works during outages, technical supervision by the reactor equipment manufacturer, unsealing and sealing of the primary and secondary lids of the steam generator hot and cold collector, operational inspections, etc.