Paks Nuclear Power Plant

F1

Active reactors ( gross ):

Set planning ( gross ):

The Paks Nuclear Power Plant, Hungarian Paksi atomerőmű, is the only nuclear power plant in Hungary. It is located near the town of Paks, 100 km south of Budapest on the Danube.

It covers around 40 % of electricity needs from Hungary and is by far the largest employer in the region. Radioactive waste from Paks are stored in the warehouse Püspökszilágy.

• 2.1 incidents

History

With the construction of the first double block was started on 1 August 1974. On December 28, 1982, the first and on August 6, 1984, the second reactor unit went into commercial operation. On 1 October 1979, started the construction work for the second double block with the reactors Paks Paks - 3 and 4. This went on 28 September 1986 to 16 August 1987. In all four reactor blocks Soviet reactors of the type WWER-440/213 the second generation are used. It is envisaged that the initial operating period of 30 years to extend by a further 20 years. For example, the shutdown would shift to the year 2032 or 2037. For block 1, the term extension in December 2012 has been implemented. It was increased to 500 MW to 510 MW gross output of all reactors. In May 2008, the company Atomstroiexport had signed the contract for performance enhancement and associated retrofitting. The costs amounted to 900 million dollars. The first two reactors were already modernized. The conversions of the remaining two blocks should be completed in 2009.

In the 1980s, the blocks were also 5 and 6 being considered with VVER -1000. 1989 this plan was discarded. Once again there are voices calling for a construction of units 5 and 6 again, in order not to jeopardize power generation in Hungary from 2015.

The safety level of the power plant Paks is, according to the IAEA at the level of the safest power plants in the world.

When the construction of the nuclear power plant Żarnowiec was finally canceled, bought the Center for Nuclear Studies in Paks, which is located on the site of Paks Nuclear Power Plant, a WWER-440/213-Druckbehälter the nuclear power plant Żarnowiec, which is now on display at Paks.

Future

For the future, the replacement of the reactors from the Soviet era is planned. As early as 1998 the first plans were prepared. The performance of future reactors should be between 600 MW and 700 MW. In question here are reactors of the type AP -600 of the U.S. company Westinghouse, a CANDU - 6 of the Canadian company Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or WWER-640/407 as a joint project of Russian Atomstroyexport and the German Siemens. The plans were set, however, as the political situation this is not made ​​possible. By now ( early 2009 ) there is a policy decision of the Hungarian Parliament, which provides for the construction of two 1,000 MW reactors at Paks. On 5 February 2010, four companies interested in negotiations on the expansion of the plant had already shown. The total electrical output of the plant to be doubled.

In January 2014, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán graduated surprisingly a contract with Russian President Vladimir Putin on modernization and expansion of the nuclear power plant. This Rosatom will build two reactors by 2030. These are to be operated initially alongside the old blocks that are not switched off until 2032-2037. Russia secures financing with a loan of more than 3600 billion forints ( 11 billion euros ). Russia also takes over the supply and removal of the radioactive fuel material. The new reactor blocks are to provide Hungary in 2085 with nuclear energy and create 10,000 new jobs.

On January 14, 2014 Hungary and Russia have signed an agreement to build two reactor blocks. The total cost of 10-12 billion euros, partially financed by Russian loans. The two reactors are said to have a power of about 1200 MW. The construction is carried out by the Russian company Rosatom. With the completion is expected for the year 2023.

Security

The IAEA said that the modernization of equipment was a reason for the high security of the system. There is still need of improvement parts of the nuclear reactor. The VVER were designed for to complete as many operating hours. On exact maintenance of the reactors were not taken in the design. Parts of the active region of the nuclear reactor can not be achieved. To achieve this, a special system has been developed. Pak needs to be upgraded as a model project to increase security of other systems. The whole project cost about $ 8 million and was completed in 1997.

Incidents

On 10 April 2003, an incident occurred. When cleaning of fuel in Unit 2 of the nuclear power plant whose envelope has been damaged. It came out of radioactive gas. It was an accident of the Class 3 according to the International Nuclear Event Scale evaluation. No one was injured, but there was acute danger, the staff had to flee from the reactor hall. There was also a release to the environment, which was slightly higher than the annual dose limits. Then the reactor at reduced power had to be operated. 2007, the damage to the reactor were settled.

Data of the reactor units

The Paks Nuclear Power Plant has four active and two planned blocks: