Slovakia allows commissioning of a 471 MW nuclear reactor at Mochovce plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic (UJD SR), Slovakia’s nuclear regulator, issued the final authorisation for the commissioning for the 471 MW unit 3 at the Mochovce nuclear power plant (southwestern Slovakia).

Slovenské Elektráne, the plant’s operator, announced it will begin fuelling within two weeks following the authorisation and expects to start power production by early 2023. Slovenské elektráne applied for licences to commission Mochovce units 3 and 4 as early as December 2016. The new unit is a VVER pressurised water reactor, which will cover about 13% of the electricity consumption in the country. 

Construction of the first two 471 MWe VVER units at the four-unit 1.9 GW Mochovce plant started in 1982. Work began on units 3 and 4 in 1986 but stalled in 1992. The first two reactors were completed and came into operation in 1998 and 1999 with a project to complete units 3 and 4 beginning ten years later, but the latter two suffered extensive delays.

The launch of the long-delayed reactor comes as the issue of energy independence is getting more important for Slovakia, as tensions are growing with gas supplier Russia. UJD SR will now also examine authorisation for unit 4, which could become operational by end-2024.

In 2021, nuclear represented 23% of Slovakia’s installed capacity with 1.9 GW and 52% of its power production with 15.8 TWh.