Krško Nuclear Power Plant

F1

Active reactors ( gross ):

The nuclear power plant Krško [ krʃkɔ ] (Slovenian Jedrska Elektrarna Krško ( JEK ), also Nuklearna Elektrarna Krško ( NEK ), Croatian Nuklearna elektrana Krško ) is a Slovenian- Croatian nuclear power plant. It was built in the 1970s in the former Yugoslavia and is now part of each half of Croatia and Slovenia. Officially, the nuclear power plant of the company GEN energija doo is operated in Krško.

The site Krško in Slovenia is on the Sava river (tributary of the Danube ), about 20 km from the Croatian border and approximately 30 line kilometers of Zagreb. The power plant has a gross electrical output of 730 MW.

History

The pressurized water reactor, the U.S. company Westinghouse was built in the 1970s as a 50:50 project of the two Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Slovenia and opened in 1981. The planning of the power plant was made ​​by the American Gilbert Associates Inc.. The construction has been furnished by the Yugoslav company Gradis and Hidroelektra. The assembly led by the Yugoslav company also Hidromotaža and Đuro Đaković.

The Krško nuclear power plant was the only nuclear power plant in Yugoslavia; it provided the late 1980s 20 % of electricity consumption of SR Slovenia and 18 % of electricity consumption of SR Croatia, this corresponded to a total of 5% of the total consumption of Yugoslavia.

Between 1981 and 1989, the reactor operation was interrupted more than 70 times. An operating license is in 1989 not yet been submitted.

After the collapse of Yugoslavia (1992 ), with periodic disputes between the now independent republics on the power plant. It was about current outstanding payments and partial takeover of the operating costs of Croatia. In 2001, legal and technical issues were resolved by the governments. As of 2003, the power plant finally delivered again both owners.

The plant covers about 40 % of the Slovenian electricity demand from (66% of Slovenia's CO2-free energy) and about 15% of Croatia's electricity needs.

The reactor was originally designed for 40 years of operation.

The owner of the nuclear power plant wants to build a second reactor at the site. It is thereby assumed capital expenditures of 2.5 billion euros. The reactor will have a capacity of 1200 MW and 1500 MW. The block is to be built east of the existing. In August 2009, an Italian partnership was brought into the conversation for the construction of the block about the project but decided at the earliest in 2013 or 2014. For the existing block an extension of the operating license until the year 2043 has been requested by power plant operators.

Risk

The nuclear power plant is therefore particularly controversial at the nuclear power opponents, because it stands in an earthquake zone. After the PHARE Final Report on the geophysical survey of the area of Krško but " no major seismogenic Risk Factors location of the nuclear power plant to determine " are. Even after the IAEA corresponds to the safety of the nuclear power plant all international standards and highest safety requirements.

However, among other things, the Vienna Environmental Ombudsman raises serious concerns about the seismic stability of the site are made. In particular, the expected largest magnitudes exceed therefore considered in the planning values ​​.

After the nuclear disaster at Fukushima ( Japan) Slovenia Greenpeace has commissioned a study commissioned which confirmed that the NPP Krško would a strong earthquake, which occurs approximately every 200 years in Slovenia not withstand. In an open letter to the Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor Greenpeace argued against a second reactor block ( NEK 2).

In 2013, it was announced that the French Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Safety IRSN has spoken out against the construction of a second reactor block because of the active tectonic fault " Libnah ". The IRSN has carried out geomechnische, geological and seismic surveys for possible locations of a second nuclear power plant for several years at the request of GEN energija. The three other members of the consortium, inter alia, the slow. and French institutions of Geology ( Geološki zavod SlovenijeGZS and BRGMHomepage BRGM (English) ) agree with this assessment does not zu.Onlineausgabe the slow. Weekly magazine Mladina from 03.22.2013 ( Slovenian) By now, GEN energieja cooperation with the IRSN terminated.

Nuclear storage

The construction and the safety of a nuclear interim storage facility ( Slow NSRF = stock for low - and medium - glowing radioactive wastes) for spent fuel rods within the NPP Krško is controversial in Slovenia. s is now planned that such a camp in Vrbina should arise. The originally began scheduled for the end of 2013, start-up is impossible, since even before it has begun construction. It is now available in 2010 for the trial run are available. Currently, the spent fuel assemblies are still stored on the premises of the NPP. The cost of such a bearing are estimated at 146 million euros for the Slovenian part.

Incidents

• On September 25, 1995, there came through control error to an unwanted valve circuit in one of the two lines, which dissipate the generated steam to the turbine. This led to an only short term disturbance of thermal equilibrium in the reactor circuit ( with brief opening of a pressure relief valve ), because approximately 1.3 seconds later the reactor scram was effective. Had this, however, not at all or works late, serious problems were encountered: The called line closure precludes the normal preheating of there leading into the steam generator and via heat exchange in the reactor circuit feed water from a tap the steam line. This cooling has the feedwater nuclear physically means that the reactor power is increased abruptly by Überkritikalität. This results in a beyond design basis accident may develop.

• In a Turbinenabschalttest the staff underwent on April 10, 2005 have introduced some error. This caused a turbine trip, which in turn had the quick shutdown of the reactor, the feed water isolation with triggering of the emergency power supply and a shorter term activation of the high-pressure emergency cooling result.

• On 4 June 2008 at 15:07 clock, there was a loss of coolant accident. In the main cooling system ( primary circuit) coolant had leaked and been throttled then the reactor power. The reactor was shut down and at 20:10 clock completely off in order to investigate the cause of the problem. According to the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Authority, the leaked radioactive water was trapped by the so-called containment, a safety container. There had been no impact outside of the nuclear power plant. The incident was classified as an " unusual," the lowest level of risk. In this case there is no danger for the staff of the nuclear power plant have passed. The leak was in an isolation valve manifold for temperature measurement, near one of the two main coolant pumps, and there were there about 3 m³ / h from. In order to repair it, a complete shut-down in the cold state is necessary. Due to the resulting decay heat and the subsequent start- electricity production will be interrupted for several days. The Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration ( SNSA ) informed in the course of the afternoon, the IAEA, the emergency system to exchange information with radioactive incidents Ecurie (European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange), as well as the neighboring countries of the accident. The Europe-wide warning was about Ecurie, a Europe-wide warning system that alerts the national competent authorities in the event of a major nuclear accident. It was the first activation of this information system since its launch after the disaster of Chernobyl. In the "NEWS " system of the IAEA Slovenia has classified the incident as a reportable event level 0 on the International Nuclear Event Scale evaluation. Confusion reigned in the flow of information, because while on Ecurie an incident was reported, the neighbors were informed, in error, a practice case.

• On February 25, 2013 was due to a fault with a valve to a scram.
• In October of 2013, mechanical damage were discovered at three nuclear fuel rods during routine annual overhaul. The report of the competent authority, which is quoted in the newspaper Dolenjski list it is stated that "a sudden increase in activity of the isotopes of xenon and iodine had been detected during the firing cycle 26 on 18.7.2012. Their activities are by the end of 2012 continued steadily increased. " We evaluated the increase in radioactivity in the primary circuit as evidence that one or two fuel rods ( from a total of 235 per fuel element, and there are 121 fuel assemblies ) have become leaky. In the past it was too mechanical damage of fuel rods with a diameter of about 1 cm, come, these were but less severe. Of the three damaged fuel rods become located on the floor of the spent fuel pool. The reasons for the described damage are still unknown, they are perhaps most easily modified new reactor lid or a foreign body, such as a piece of steel that has been forgotten during the regular maintenance in Raktor. The fuel rods are also exposed to a relatively strong cooling water pressure during operation, so that they can break if they have not been manufactured correctly implemented. Makeshift all leaking fuel rods were removed, four fuel assemblies are mechanically stabilized to the point at which the water pressure was strongest. This is done through the incorporation of four empty fuel rods. Only at the next routine overhaul in 2015 it will be the problem try to fundamentally solve.

Data of the reactor units

The Krško nuclear power plant has a block: