Westinghouse starts six-month FEED study for an AP1000 at Bohunice
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readWestinghouse is to carry out a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for a possible AP1000 reactor at the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear site in Slovakia, World Nuclear News reported on 29 October after a signing attended by Prime Minister Robert Fico. The six-month study is funded in part by a grant from the US State Department's FIRST programme and will cover engineering, licensing and project planning.
The award follows the news earlier in October that the Czech utility ČEZ agreed to sell its stake in JESS, Slovakia's new nuclear project company, to the state-owned JAVYS. Fico said that with the ownership question settled, Slovakia was signing "the first technical document" allowing Westinghouse to establish the state of the site and the permits available, and that the country wants to build the plant exclusively under state ownership. JESS chief executive Tomáš Vavruška said the study would assess whether AP1000 technology suits the site and produce more detailed documentation, including a preliminary schedule and budget, as the basis for deciding next steps.
Slovakia already runs five reactors producing more than half its electricity, with Mochovce 4 in commissioning. When Mochovce 4 reaches full power, nuclear will provide the equivalent of 77.5% of the country's consumption, according to WNN. The target date for the new Bohunice unit is 2040.
What it means
This is a study, not a construction decision, and the quotes say so: the output is a schedule and a budget on which JESS will decide. What has changed is that the project now has a single owner, the state, and a named vendor doing site work, which removes the two questions that stalled it. The 2040 target leaves room for the study to take its six months and for a decision after it.