An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) team has completed a three-week mission to the Temelín NPP in the Czech Republic at the invitation of the Czech government. The team, which comprised 14 experts from nine countries, focused on 10 areas, including operation, maintenance, radiation protection, personnel training and emergency management. The final report will be forwarded to state power company ČEZ and the State Office for Nuclear Safety within three weeks.
The Czech Republic has two NPPs at Temelín and Dukovany. Four VVER-440 units are currently in operation at the Dukovany site, which began operating between 1985 and 1987. Two VVER-1000 units are in operation at Temelín, which began operation in 2000 and 2002. The Dukovany units will be decommissioned no later than 2045-2047.
The OSART team examined documentation, monitored operation of the plant and held discussions with the employees. They assessed the information obtained against IAEA criteria and the results of other power plants. According to preliminary results, the experts recommended strengthening cooperation with suppliers in order to better understand the culture, values and rules of the power plant.
“We received an independent view from people with experience in the field who also know the best practice in their areas”, said Jan Krumlov, Director of the Temelín NPP. “Their recommendations do not mean that we are doing something wrong but suggested how to do things even better. And in this respect, the inspection met our expectations. We will definitely work intensively to implement the conclusions.”
The Dukovany NPP will undergo the same inspection in November. According to power engineers, the continuous introduction of new methods and the sharing of experience between nuclear power plant operators is the key to continuously increasing safety and improving operating results.
“Nuclear energy works on the principle of continuous improvement. In this regard, it is important to share information and pass on experience between individual operators,” said Bohdan Zronek, Member of the Board of Directors of ČEZ and Director of the Nuclear Energy Division. “And similar missions are a very good tool to verify your own functioning and share experience and best practice within the nuclear community.”
Subsequently, Temelín will have a year and a half to put the recommendations from the IAEA experts into practice. There will be a follow-up mission in 2026 to see how the power plant has dealt with their recommendations.
Researched and written by Judith Perera
