The Czech Republic operates four VVER-440 units at Dukovany in south Moravia. Nuclear energy supplies 28.6 percent of the country's electricity; thermal--coal, oil and gas--plants, 68.6 percent, and hydro plants, 2.8 percent.
The Czech Republic, seeking to reduce its reliance on highly polluting brown coal, is working with the U.S. company Westinghouse to upgrade and complete two VVER-1000 units at Temelin. The first Temelin unit is expected to be commissioned in September 1997; plans call for fuel loading of the second unit in March 1999 and trial operation in November 1999.
Before the breakup of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (CSFR), the federal government decided on an energy policy that would continue the country's nuclear program and reduce its reliance on coal.
The Czech government continues to support the use of nuclear energy. It advocates the completion of the Temelin nuclear power plant, the modernization of many coal-fired power plants and the closing of old fossil plants. In a 1994 review, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's International Energy Agency noted that Ceske Energeticke Zavody (CEZ), the Czech utility, is closing the most polluting coal-fired plants and investing $4.5 billion in controlling emissions from the remaining coal-fired plants and in safety and technology improvements to both the Dukovany and Temelin nuclear power plants.
Utility Operations. CEZ is responsible for electricity generation and high-voltage transmission in the Czech Republic, and eight companies are responsible for regional electricity distribution.
Before the breakup of the CSFR, CEZ was state-owned, although the country planned to privatize the utility as part of its move toward a market economy. Now, 32 percent of CEZ stock is publicly owned and 1 percent is held by a restitution fund to compensate people whose property was confiscated under the communist regime, while the remaining 67 percent is held by the Czech government. When privatization is complete, the Czech government will hold a 51-percent share of CEZ equity.
The eight regional distribution companies also are being privatized, with an initial 20-percent stake being offered to foreign utilities or distribution companies. In addition, a 15-percent stake will be offered to the municipalities served by the companies. An additional 15 percent will be auctioned through a citizen coupon voucher scheme. Within the next five years, another 30-percent stake will be offered to foreign companies through financial markets, and the remaining shares will be offered to municipalities.
In March 1995, CEZ was reportedly negotiating with the government on the deregulation of electricity prices. The government has proposed that prices for residential customers--which are much lower than prices for industrial customers--be increased by 12 percent in 1995 and by 15 percent annually for several years thereafter. The Czech parliament must approve the increases.
CEZ has awarded a contract to the U.S. company Westinghouse to supply a plant information system to integrate maintenance, materials and documentation management and operations support for 13 of the country's power plants, nuclear and fossil-fueled.
CEZ reports to the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Like its neighbors in Eastern Europe using Soviet-designed nuclear plants, Czechoslovakia had adopted not only the technology but the regulatory model in place in the former U.S.S.R. That meant a single organization--the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)--promoted nuclear power and regulated nuclear power plant operations.
Reformed Federal Body. In early 1991, the CSFR redefined the AEC's duties, making it responsible for nuclear safety but eliminating any involvement in promoting nuclear power. Within the AEC, the Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (NSI) had sole responsibility for issuing safety regulations.
The NSI staff included 14 resident inspectors at the country's nuclear power plants. Separate Czech and Slovak agencies supported the work of the AEC in such areas as nuclear safety, radiation protection, technical safety and fire protection.
The CSFR also established a national system for collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on safety-significant events at nuclear plants.
New Republic Entity. With the creation of separate Czech and Slovak republics in January 1993, regulatory bodies were established for each republic. The State Office for Nuclear Safety, headed by Jan Stuller, formerly had three technical departments--one for nuclear power plant components and systems, one for nuclear safety assessment and one for nuclear materials--each with its own director.
Effective July 1, 1995, the Czech government reorganized the State Office for Nuclear Safety, combining the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection within the office. The office now has three divisions: one for nuclear safety, one for radiation protection, and one for administration and technical support, each with its own deputy chairman.
The division of nuclear safety has four on-site inspectors at the Dukovany plant and three on-site inspectors at the Temelin plant.
The Czech Republic has drafted national legislation that includes a provision making the licensee responsible for any nuclear damage resulting from an accident at a nuclear power plant, requiring that the license holder have insurance to cover any damage, and obligating the state to provide compensation for any damage in excess of that covered by the license holder's insurance. The legislation has been approved by the Czech cabinet and now goes to the Czech Parliament. If approved by Parliament, the legislation will come into effect Jan. 1, 1997.
In addition, a nuclear insurance pool was established in the Czech Republic in July 1995. Since then, insurance arrangements for third-party liability have been made for Dukovany, and coverage will soon be arranged for the two Temelin units.
The Czech Republic is a party to the Vienna Convention, which ensures that the responsibility for damage caused by a nuclear accident is channeled to the plant operator. The republic also is a party to the 1988 Joint Protocol on Civil Law Liability and Compensation for Cross-Boundary Damage from Nuclear Accident, which resolves potential conflicts between the Paris Convention--which covers 14 European countries--and the Vienna Convention--which has worldwide coverage.
Supply of Fuel. Nuclear fuel for the Dukovany plant is supplied by the Russian company Mashinostroyitelniy Zavod Electrostal. Until 1993, the fuel for the plant was purchased by the Czech company Skodaexport with funds from CEZ. But according to Czech press reports, the Russian company is owed $5.7 million by Skodaexport for 1992 fuel deliveries and has said it intends to sign a contract directly with CEZ for fuel supplies through 1996. Although CEZ has invited tenders for the supply of fuel for Dukovany, any new supplier would need two to three years to develop the production technology. In 1993, the Czech Republic began buying some of the fresh fuel from the shut-down VVER plant at Greifswald in eastern Germany. This fuel gives Dukovany sufficient reserves for one year, but the plant has reportedly begun using it. In December 1994, the republic signed an agreement with Russia for the supply of fresh fuel.
Fuel for the Temelin plant is being supplied by Westinghouse as part of the plant's upgrading and completion. The fuel will be manufactured in the United States, with the Czech Republic's Skoda Plzen participating in fuel testing and development. Under the December 1994 Czech-Russian agreement, Russia will be able to compete for the supply of enriched uranium for the Temelin plant, and to compete for the supply of fabricated fuel once the four-year Westinghouse contract expires.
In December 1995, CEZ signed an agreement with Canada's Cameco Corp. for the supply--beginning in 1998--of uranium hexafluoride produced at Cameco's facilities in Ontario. Uranium hexafluoride must be enriched and then fabricated into nuclear fuel.
Spent Fuel Storage and Disposal. Originally, it was agreed that spent fuel from the Dukovany plant would be sent to Russia for disposal. But in 1993, Russia decided to accept spent fuel only for reprocessing, not for disposal. Until the breakup of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic, the Dukovany plant sent its spent fuel to an interim spent fuel storage pool at the Bohunice plant. But in 1993, SEP, the Slovak utility that operates Bohunice, said it was no longer willing to accept Dukovany's spent fuel.
To address its storage problem, Dukovany began reracking the fuel assemblies in its spent fuel pools, which will increase capacity by about 90 percent. In addition, CEZ built a 600-metric-ton interim dry storage facility on site. The first of 60 CASTOR casks designed by Germany's Gesellschaft für Nuklear Behälter and manufactured by Skoda Plzen were delivered to the plant in January 1996. Skoda expects to be able to manufacture 20 casks annually. In November 1995, the Slovak utility began shipping Dukovany's spent fuel back to the Czech Republic plant. All the spent fuel is expected to be returned by 1997. The facility began trial operation in December 1995, when the State Office for Nuclear Safety granted it an initial one-year license.
CEZ also plans to build a central interim storage facility that could store about 12,500 fuel assemblies from the Dukovany plant and 3,000 fuel assemblies from the Temelin plant. The facility needs to be operational by 2005, when Dukovany's current and planned spent fuel storage capacity will be exhausted. During 1995, CEZ sent tender offers to 16 companies worldwide, and received expressions of interest from nine, which were asked to submit proposals. Six possible sites have been identified for the facility, and a final site is expected to be selected in early 1997, with construction starting soon after the year 2000. The facility will meet the country's radioactive waste storage needs for about 50 years.
The Czech Republic has launched a deep geological repository project, with the country's Nuclear Research Institute in charge. The project calls for national legislation in 1996 as a foundation for the project, with the repository becoming operational in 2035.
Under the country's new draft atomic law, a levy on the producers of radioactive waste would be used to fund a new state organization--the Radioactive Waste Repositories Management Office--charged with accepting all radioactive waste and organizing its disposal.
CEZ has awarded several contracts to Western firms for safety-related improvements to both its operating nuclear plant and its plant under construction. For details on specific improvements to its operating plant, see the summary sections on the Dukovany plant.
Under the Communist regime, Czechoslovak equipment manufacturing companies had supplied some of the major components of VVER nuclear plants. Today, most of those companies--formerly state owned--are seeking to privatize, often by selling shares to foreign firms. In a bid to produce equipment that meets Western safety standards, some are exploring joint ventures with Western companies and applying for Western certification.
Skoda Plzen, which makes heavy component sets for VVER reactors, has obtained American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) certification, and Vitkovice, which makes steam generators and pressurizers, has been certified under the ASME code and also meets the French code for generator parts fabrication.
Temelin. Westinghouse, Siemens/KWU, Sweden's Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) and France's Cegelec submitted proposals in 1991 for upgrading the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems at the two Temelin units under construction. In August 1991, CEZ asked Westinghouse and ABB to conduct parallel preliminary design studies of a replacement I&C system for the original Soviet-designed system.
Also in August 1991, CEZ announced an audit of Temelin 1 and 2. The initial phase of the audit, which was to be completed in about three months, was to examine design analysis, safety analysis, project management, quality assurance, safety levels, licensing aspects, and economics. The audit also was to compare plant codes and operating standards with those at nuclear plants in the West. The results of the audit, to be conducted by Halliburton NUS Corp., would be used to make any modifications considered necessary for plant safety and reliability.
In November 1991, a U.S. company, General Physics International Engineering and Simulation (GPI), and a Czechoslovak simulator manufacturer, Orgrez, were awarded a contract by CEZ to build a full-scope, plant-referenced simulator. GPI will provide software technology as well as computer systems. Temelin nuclear plant personnel will be trained at CEZ training centers.
Temelin Audit. The results of the first phase of the Temelin audit, released in March 1992, said that the plant could meet Western safety standards if CEZ carried out such planned backfits as replacing the I&C system and making provisions for improvements to the Soviet-designed core. In addition, CEZ must make other technical and program improvements, and it would need to conduct a probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). CEZ accepted all the recommendations.
The preliminary results of the second phase of the audit, which covered management and organizational issues, scheduling and costs, indicated that the two units can be upgraded to Western safety standards without significant impact on overall plant costs or schedules, and that the plant can be licensed by the mid-1990s.
In the fall of 1992, CEZ signed letters of intent with Westinghouse to supply both the nuclear fuel for Temelin and the plant's I&C system. CEZ awarded a contract for the PSA, to begin in April 1993, to Halliburton NUS. The results of the PSA were to be used to make decisions on additional proposed design improvements to Temelin.
Financing. On March 10, 1993, the Czech government gave its approval for the completion and commercial operation of the Temelin plant. Citibank agreed to lend CEZ $400 million for the project, with the U.S. Export-Import Bank guaranteeing 85 percent of the loan and Belgian financial institutions the rest. The Czech government is also backing the bank credits. Because of delays, the cost of the project has increased from $2.3 billion to nearly $2.5 billion.
Project Milestones. During 1996, the Czech Republic's State Office for Nuclear Safety--the country's nuclear regulator--will review the design changes developed by CEZ and Westinghouse to upgrade the original design to Western standards. It also will review Westinghouse's plans to upgrade the I&C system, and CEZ's preliminary and final safety analysis report.
Unit 1's reactor pressure vessel and steam generators were installed in May 1993. Unit 2's pressure vessel and steam generators were installed between August 1995 and November 1995. Westinghouse expects to have Unit 1's I&C system installed and tested by November 1996. The Westinghouse-fabricated fuel is scheduled to be loaded in September 1997. At present, civil work on Unit 1 is 95 percent complete, with 75 percent of the technology installed; civil work on Unit 2 is 65 percent complete, with 15 percent of the technology installed.
The State Office for Nuclear Safety is responsible for reviewing the qualifications and performance of nuclear plant personnel. It oversees staff training, licenses control room operators and administers the work of the State Examination Committee--which tests the qualifications of plant personnel.
Prior to the breakup of the CSFR, there were three training centers for nuclear power plant personnel in the former federal republic, one for skilled workers in the Czech Republic, at Brno, and two in the Slovak Republic, one for skilled workers at Piestany and one for professional employees with university degrees at Trnava. Now, all Czech personnel receive classroom training at Brno and control room operators go to Trnava in the Slovak Republic for simulator training.
Programs consist of initial classroom training, practical training at a nuclear power plant, and examinations. Training programs range from one to 24 months, depending on the position.
Control-room operators receive about 80 weeks of training, which includes 30 weeks in the classroom, 20 weeks of on-the-job training and five weeks of training on the full-scope VVER-440 Model V213 simulator at Trnava. Then, following an examination, the operators receive on-the-job training in a main control room as well as specialized training. After that, they take a state theoretical and practical examination, followed by four to 10 weeks of supervised on-the-job training.
Operators are licensed for two years and must take an examination consisting of written, oral and practical tests for renewal.
After the collapse of its Communist regime, Czechoslovakia became increasingly active in international efforts to improve nuclear power plant safety and operation.
In 1991, the CSFR's deputy minister of economy requested cooperation from the West in all spheres of the country's nuclear power development policies, including upgrading nuclear units to the safety levels of Western Europe.
WANO Membership. The Czech Republic utility CEZ is a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators' (WANO's) Moscow Center. Under the auspices of WANO, representatives of the Dukovany plant have visited nuclear plants in the West (see individual plant summaries).
Foratom Participation. The Czechoslovak Nuclear Forum, founded in 1990, became an associate of Foratom (the umbrella group for 14 European nuclear industry forums) that same year. In 1991, the forum hosted a Foratom meeting in Prague. There is now a Foratom organization in the Czech Republic, headed by Jiri Benanek.
Utility Partnerships. Under a utility partnership program jointly sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Energy Association (an association of public and private energy-related organizations that represents the United States on the World Energy Council), the Czech utility CEZ is paired with Houston Lighting & Power Co. The partnership involves exchanges of technical and economic information, seminars, and visits by managers to one another's plants.
EU Assistance. As part of its program of economic assistance to Eastern Europe--known as PHARE--the European Communities (now the European Union) earmarked 4.5 million ECU ($5.7 million) in 1990 for improvements to Czechoslovak plants and 3.5 million ECU ($4.4 million) in 1991. In 1992, the PHARE nuclear safety program was organized on a regional basis for Central and Eastern Europe, with 20 million ECU ($25.2 million) available for the region. The 1992 funding for the Czech Republic was intended for updating nuclear regulations, improving safety at the VVER-440 Model V213s and VVER-1000s, fuel cycle and waste management activities, and off-site emergency preparedness.
Czech Republic projects funded under the PHARE program include a study of I&C at the Temelin units under construction; a study of I&C replacement at the Dukovany plant; and operator training. Under the PHARE program for 1993, which also provided 20 million ECU ($25.2 million) in funding for the region, an audit of the Dukovany plant was initiated. The audit may result in a proposal for backfitting.
IAEA Training Seminars. Although the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is known for its inspection missions--including its Assessment of Safety Significant Events Team (ASSET) missions--to nuclear power plants, the agency also conducts ASSET training seminars at a country's request. The seminars are designed to train operators and regulators in the use of the ASSET methodology to identify safety issues, to assess their consequences and to eliminate the root causes of likely future accidents and incidents.
In April 1995, the IAEA held an ASSET training seminar in Prague.
At the request of the CSFR, the IAEA sent missions to both Dukovany and Temelin. The missions to Dukovany are detailed in the separate summary of that plant.
Temelin Pre-OSART. At the CSFR's request, the agency sent a Pre-Operational Safety Team (Pre-OSART) mission April 23-May 11, 1990, to the two VVER-1000 units under construction at Temelin.
The team evaluated 11 general areas, including project management, civil construction, mechanical and electrical equipment, training, preparation for startup and operations, and radioactive waste management.
The team made several suggestions for improvements, including streamlining the plant's operating organization by separating operating, maintenance and technical support into function groups that cooperate on projects. It also urged that quality assurance be expanded into a comprehensive program in keeping with international standards, and it said that CEZ should be given the necessary tools to help contractors and subcontractors improve industrial safety and housekeeping practices on-site.
Follow-Up Temelin OSART Mission. The CSFR requested a follow-up review to the 1990 mission, which was conducted Feb. 17-21, 1992. The purpose of the review was to evaluate the actions taken in response to the recommendations and suggestions made during the original Pre-OSART mission. The team noted that the Czech utility and plant management were acting on, or had completed, many of the recommendations. But further efforts were needed in some areas, it added, such as: centralization of the Czech utility's nuclear activities; further development and implementation of quality assurance programs; development of a maintenance strategy; and improved implementation of industrial safety requirements.
Planned OSART Safety Review Mission. An IAEA OSART safety review mission is scheduled to visit Temelin March 11-15, 1996, to examine the plant's design and operational safety upgrades, with particular emphasis on the design upgrades.
Planned Pre-OSART Mission. An IAEA pre-OSART mission plans to visit the Temelin plant in the first half of 1997.
January 1996
