Slovakia goes back to the times of the USSR. The technology hasn’t gotten old
At the beginning of 2027, the decommissioned nuclear reactor from the Soviet era will be launched again. It is expected to account for approximately 13 percent. electricity generated in Slovakia.
Fuel loading, assembly and sealing of the reactor of the fourth unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant have already been completed. The next step is physical tests, which are to lead to the first controlled uranium fission reaction.
Slovaks are waiting for the turbo-generator to be started and the power to be gradually increased along with inspections at subsequent levels – the WNP portal described the matter. – After completing the tests and achieving full power, the fourth unit will be one of the key sources of electricity in Slovakia for the next decades, announced Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Soviet technology is coming back into favor. She could also be in Żarnowiec
The fourth unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia has a capacity of 471 MW and uses a Soviet VVER-440 reactor. This is a type of reactor commonly used in Central and Eastern Europe from the family of Soviet pressurized reactors (PWR). It has a safer design than the RBMK-type Chernobyl emergency reactors.
Water is the moderator and coolant here. It circulates in the reactor under high pressure, but does not boil in the core as in Chernobyl. An increase in temperature or a loss of water causes the chain reaction to naturally quench, which prevents the reactor from exploding.
This type of reactor was supposed to operate at the never-completed Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant in Poland. The units with these reactors are operating or were operating until recently, among others: in the Czech Republic (Dukovany), Slovakia (Bohunice), Hungary (Paks), Finland (Loviisa) and in Russia and Ukraine.
The third unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant of the same Soviet design was connected to the grid in 2023.
Slovakia is already planning to build another reactor. This time far from Russia
After the fourth Soviet-era reactor is put into operation, energy production from nuclear power plants will cover 77.5 percent. domestic consumption in Slovakia, which is expected to give a higher share than in France (67%). In the variant with four units of the Mochovce power plant, Slovakia will produce 37 TWh per year with a consumption of 28 TWh, and will be able to export electricity.
Prime Minister Robert Fico also announced that he would like to use the option to buy back 17%. shares of Slovenské elektrárne. Today, the state has 34 percent and 66 percent. belongs to Slovak Power Holding controlled by the Czech EPH group.
The Slovak government is also planning to build a large reactor in Jaslovské Bohunice, this time in cooperation with US companies. The new reactor is to have a capacity of 1.2 GW and will increase the share of nuclear energy in Slovakia to 80 percent. The investment value is estimated at EUR 5 billion. However, construction will not start before 2030.
