Unit 3 at Czech Dukovany nuclear power plant returned to service

Unit 3 at the Dukovany nuclear power plant resumed supplying electricity to the grid today at 9 am. After more than 3 months, the chain fission reaction was restarted in the Unit 3 reactor yesterday. Units 2 and 3 were shut down on 18 and 19 September, respectively, due to poor-quality images of pipe welds.

From today, Units 3 and 4 will generate electricity. The remaining two units will remain offline.

“At the turn of the year, units with a total capacity of 1000 megawatts will be in operation at the plant.”
plant spokesman Jiří Bezděk.

Around 3000 welds were inspected at Unit 3, with 1330 welds requiring new images and 237 requiring repairs. According to the plant spokesman, the repairs primarily concerned impulse and measurement lines of small-diameter piping.

Weld repairs and inspections were completed on 22 December, followed by pressure and strength tests. Electricity generation at Dukovany Unit 3 began today at 9 am.

The first 3 units at the plant underwent weld inspections after shortcomings were identified in the weld images. Dana Drábová, chair of the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB), said that some of the images were blurred and that, in some cases, the same image had been copied instead of taking three different images.

Decision on extending Unit 1 licence postponed

The long-term operating licence for Dukovany Unit 1 was due to expire at the end of the year. Due to the weld issues, proceedings to issue a new licence had to be suspended, while the existing permit was extended until March at the request of ČEZ .

“The proceedings to authorise long-term operation have indeed been suspended. Once ČEZ submits everything it is required to submit, which we expect during February, the proceedings will continue.”
Dana Drábová, chair of the SÚJB