Fuel removed from Unit 1 reactor at Czech Temelín nuclear power plant

Technicians at the Temelín nuclear power plant have removed the fuel from the Unit 1 reactor. The operation took almost five days. The fuel will be reloaded in mid-May. The power plant’s operators shut down Unit 1 as planned on 7 April for a fuel replacement, and are now continuing inspections of the turbine and safety systems. During the outage, they will replace a quarter of the fuel. Temelín spokesperson Marek Sviták informed journalists of this today.

Technicians removed all 163 fuel assemblies from the reactor. They moved them to the adjacent storage pool using a remotely operated machine. The entire operation took place underwater, which, according to Sviták, provided adequate protection for the other workers in the reactor hall. In mid-May, technicians will return 121 fuel assemblies to the reactor and add 42 new ones.

Fuel assemblies that are not returned to the reactor remain in the storage pool next to it for ten years. Technicians then transfer them to the spent fuel storage facility, which has been operating at the power plant site since 2010. Spent fuel can remain there for up to 60 years. Technicians are now preparing to move three containers to the facility.