3rd reactor block at Mochovce NPP starts supplying electricity to grid

After completing the prescribed tests of the third reactor block at Mochovce nuclear power plant in Nitra region, power utility Slovenske elektrarne (SE) released steam into the turbines shortly before midnight on Tuesday (January 31), and the third reactor block was connected to the grid for the first time, SE reported on its website on Wednesday, adding that the reactor is currently at 20 percent of nominal power.
The power plant reached this important milestone less than three weeks after the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (UJD) issued approval for the start of energy commissioning on January 13.
"This represents a fundamental milestone for Slovenske elektrarne, the community of nuclear power engineers and the entire country. As of today, the third block has been converting thermal energy released in the reactor into electricity. This will help us to fulfill an agreement with the government in which Slovenske elektrarne undertook to supply cheap electricity for households at a price of €61.2077 per megawatt hour, an unprecedentedly low electricity price for households within the EU," said SE CEO Branislav Strycek.
Head of Mochovce NPP Martin Mraz added that in the coming weeks the new block will supply electricity to the grid with short-term planned shutdowns in line with the schedule for putting the new unit into operation.
Connection to the grid was preceded by tests at power levels of 5, 15 and 20 percent of the reactor's nominal power.
However, SE still has a large part of the second stage of energy commissioning ahead of it. The company needs to test the block at different power levels from 35 to 100 percent. Confirmation that the third block is fully functional and that the project parameters have be reaching will come with the successful completion of a 144-hour trial run phase at full, 471-megawatt output. (TASR)