Czech Temelín's second unit to extend generation without outage with fresh fuel

The second unit at Temelín Nuclear Power Plant will be able to generate electricity for two months longer without a shutdown. This will be made possible by the additional fresh fuel that technicians have loaded into the unit. The operating cycle will be extended to 16 months, followed by a planned two-month outage. Marek Sviták, spokesperson for the Temelín plant, informed the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

„The extension of the operating cycle was preceded by a thorough verification of all safety parameters and confirmation that all safety margins were maintained. The transition itself was also carried out with the utmost emphasis on safety,“ said Jan Kruml, director of the Temelín plant.

Until a few years ago, both Temelín units operated for ten months, followed by an outage of about two months. Longer operation is made possible by loading more fresh fuel assemblies. This time, energy engineers loaded 54, six more than a year ago. The total number of assemblies, 163, remains unchanged. Temelín plans to make the same adjustment to the first unit next year.

„By extending the fuel cycle, we will reduce wear on equipment by having fewer shutdowns, and therefore fewer cooldowns and heat-ups of the units. We will also achieve higher generation, of almost two terawatt-hours a year across both nuclear power plants. Last year, we completed the transition to a longer fuel cycle at Dukovany,“ said Bohdan Zronek, ČEZ board member and director of its nuclear energy division.

He added that the fuel replacement is part of a program called Safety 32 Tera. Its aim is to create the conditions for the planned operating life of at least 60 years for all Czech nuclear units.

Since the beginning of the year, Temelín has generated 13.2 terawatt-hours of electricity. It generated 16 TWh of electricity last year. The plant will invest 4.1 billion crowns in modernisation this year.

Czechia currently has six nuclear units at two power plants. Two units, each with a capacity of about 1000 megawatts (MW), are at Temelín in South Bohemia. Four smaller units with a capacity of 510 MW are located at Dukovany in the Třebíč region. In the future, the state wants to build two new reactors at Dukovany, the first of which is due to be completed in 2036.