Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear power plants in Slovakia emit no greenhouse gas to the atmosphere during operation, except for water aerosol released from cooling towers, hence contributing to annual CO₂ emission reduction by 15 million tonnes.

Nuclear power plants thus contribute significantly to the obligation of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and carbon neutrality by 2050. Slovenske elektrarne supplied 92.5 % of electricity from low-carbon sources in 2019, and the figure will even increase after commissioning of the Mochovce NPP Units 3&4..

Bohunice V2 NPP meets all national and international environmental requirements and its operation environmental impact is minimal. Water needed for cooling is taken from the Slnava dam on the nearby Vah river, which has water enough even in extremely dry months. Impact of effluents discharged from the power plant site on the Vah river water quality, fauna and flora is practically negligible.

Atmospheric emissions and hydrosphere effluents are regularly measured and evaluated in the 15-km area around the plant. There are 24 monitoring stations of a tele-dosimetry system, which continuously monitor dose rate of gamma radiation, volume activity of aerosols and radioactive iodine in the air. Moreover, samples of soil, ground water and food chain (feed, milk, agricultural products) are regularly analysed, too. The volume of radioactive substances contained in liquid and gaseous discharges is considerably lower than the limits set out by authorities. Monthly reports of releases into environment are available in the section Publications.

In addition to common communal wastes, operation of nuclear power plants also produces a small amount of radioactive wastes. One unit annually produces approx. 17 m3 of liquid and 17 tonnes of solid low-level radioactive wastes. Such wastes need to be treated and safely disposed of, so that they were isolated from the environment. Liquid and solid radioactive wastes are treated at Bohunice treatment centre. Compacted wastes in fibre-concrete containers are then transported and stored at the National radioactive waste repository at Mochovce. Treatment and disposal of radioactive wastes is a capacity of the state-owned company JAVYS.

Every year during a general outage, one fifth of the fuel is replaced in the reactor (i.e. 66-72 of 349 fuel rods), that is around 8 tonnes of uranium. Spent fuel rods are cooled down for 5 to 6 years in a pool next the reactor and then they are transported into the interim spent fuel storage, which is operated by JAVYS there. The spent fuel is stored in water pools there. Water provides excellent shielding preventing the leak of radioactivity into environment. Further energy use of the spent fuel is assumed in the future using new technologies.

Civic Information Committee of Bohunice (CIC) was established for the purpose of enhancing the public informing in the region formed by the buffer area of nuclear installations at Jaslovske Bohunice site, where the following companies are present: Slovenské elektrárne, a.s.  (SE), Jadrová a vyraďovacia spoločnosť, a.s. (JAVYS) and Jadrová energetická spoločnosť Slovenska, a.s. (JESS).

The public is informed about all aspects of construction, operation, and decommissioning of nuclear installation through delegated representatives of SE, JAVYS, JESS and Regional Association of Slovak Municipalities –Jaslovské Bohunice region (R-ZMOS).

For more information about R-ZMOS and CIC Bohunice visit: www.zmo.sk