The six-month study, funded in part by a grant from the US State Department’s Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) Program, will advance engineering, licensing and project planning activities for the Jaslovské Bohunice project.
The award of the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study follows the news earlier this month that the Czech utility ČEZ had agreed to sell its stake in Slovakia’s new nuclear project company JESS (Jadrová energetická spoločnosť Slovenska) to Slovakia’s state-owned JAVYS.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said that with the settling of the JESS ownership question, “today we are signing the first technical document, which allows Westinghouse to find out exactly what the condition of the construction site is, where we are, what permits are available, etc. With our American partners, we want to build a new nuclear power plant exclusively under the state ownership of the Slovak Republic”.
Tomáš Vavruška, CEO of JESS, said the FEED study would “assess the suitability of deploying AP1000 technology at this site and obtain more detailed technical and project documentation, including a preliminary schedule and budget. The results of the study will provide JESS with an important basis for deciding on the next steps in the project”.
Petr Brzezina, President of Westinghouse Czech and Slovakia, said: “Not only would an AP1000 plant at Jaslovské Bohunice deliver real economic benefits and high-quality jobs to Slovakia for generations, it can also foster the country’s energy independence.”
Background
Slovakia currently has five nuclear reactors generating more than half its electricity, with one more reactor currently under commissioning. The first two, at Bohunice, went into commercial operation in 1984 and 1985, respectively, while Mochovce 1 and 2 were connected to the grid in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Construction of Mochovce 3 and 4 began in 1986 but was halted in 1992. It was later restarted, and Mochovce 3 entered service in 2023, with Mochovce 4 expected to be operating at full power within the next few months.
When Mochovce 4 is at full capacity, nuclear will be providing the equivalent of 77.5% of Slovakia’s electricity consumption, the highest proportion for any country, even without the new unit at Bohunice.
In January, Fico and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed an Intergovernmental Agreement which would see the two countries cooperating across a broad range of nuclear energy activities “including reactor technology, supply chains, safety and security best practices, workforce development, and long-term project planning”.
The AP1000 reactor is a Generation III+ pressurised water reactor. Westinghouse says it has fully passive safety systems, a modular construction design and the smallest footprint per MWe on the market among large-scale reactors. There are currently six AP1000 reactors in operation, two in the US and four in China, with a further 14 under construction and more selected for projects in Poland, Bulgaria, India and Ukraine.
Slovakia’s target date for the new unit to be completed is 2040.
