Operators at the Czech Dukovany plant complete repairs, third unit resumes power generation

The third unit of the Dukovany nuclear power plant is generating electricity again after a week. The unplanned outage was caused by repairs to a minor leak in one of the valves. The other three units continued generating electricity without restrictions during the outage. Plant spokesperson Radek Doležal told ČTK.

"The first turbine-generator set (of the third unit) was connected to the grid by operators today at 02:12, and the second at 04:46," he said.

Dukovany thus met the expected date for bringing the unit back into operation.

The Dukovany plant has four units. As planned, they are regularly taken offline to replace some of the nuclear fuel, inspect equipment and carry out maintenance. The last planned outage this year affected the third unit. It did not supply electricity from 17 July to 20 September. In August, the fourth unit was also taken offline alongside the third for maintenance of equipment shared by the two units.

The four Dukovany units were commissioned between 1985 and 1987. ČEZ expects they can operate for up to 80 years from their start-up. South Korea’s KHNP will build two more units at Dukovany. The first of the new reactors at Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036.

Last year, the two Czech nuclear power plants, Temelín and Dukovany, generated 32.066 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, of which 14.68 TWh was generated at Dukovany.