Paks Nuclear Power Plant | |
---|---|
Paks Nuclear Power Plant
|
|
Country | Hungary |
Location | Paks |
Coordinates | 46°34′21″N 18°51′15″E / 46.57250°N 18.85417°ECoordinates: 46°34′21″N 18°51′15″E / 46.57250°N 18.85417°E |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | 1967 |
Commission date | 28 December 1982 |
Owner(s) | MVM |
Operator(s) | Paksi Atomerőmű Zrt. |
Nuclear power station | |
Reactor type | VVER |
Reactor supplier | Atomstroyexport |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 4 x 500 MW |
Make and model | VVER-440/V213 |
Units planned | 2 x 1,200 MW |
Nameplate capacity | 2,000 MW |
Capacity factor | 84.2% |
Average generation | 14,749 GW·h |
Website www |
The Paks Nuclear Power Plant (Hungarian: Paksi atomerőmű), located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Paks, central Hungary, is the first and only operating nuclear power station in Hungary. Altogether, its four reactors produce more than 50 percent of the electrical power generated in the country and meet more than 40 percent of the country electric consumption.
VVER is the Soviet designation for a pressurized water reactor. The number following VVER, in this case 440, represents the power output of the original design. The VVER-440 Model V213 was a product of the first uniform safety requirements drawn up by the Soviet designers. This model includes added emergency core cooling and auxiliary feedwater systems as well as upgraded accident localization systems.
Each reactor contains 42 tons of lightly enriched uranium dioxide fuel. Fuel takes on average three years to be used (or "burned") in the reactors; after this the fuel rods are stored for five years in an adjacent cooling pond before being removed from the site for permanent disposal.
The power plant is nearly 100% owned by state-owned power wholesaler Magyar Villamos Művek. A few shares are held by local municipalities, while a voting preference or "golden" share is held by the Hungarian government.
One brand-new Reactor pressure vessel was bought from Poland after the Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant project was abandoned in 1990.
In 2000, the Paks Nuclear Power Plant commissioned a feasibility study which concluded that the plant may remain in operation for another 20 years beyond the original 30-year design lifetime. The study was updated in 2005 with similar conclusions. In November 2005, Hungary's Parliament passed a resolution with overwhelming bipartisan majority to support the lifetime extension. The feasibility study concluded that the non-replaceable parts are in sufficient condition to remain in operation for another 20 years while a minority of replaceable parts needed replacement or refurbishment.