Illustrative stock photo (source: SITA)
The reason is that the construction works are not quick enough to guarantee the optimal connection of the systems and their gradual testing, said Marta Žiaková, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ÚJD). Meanwhile, also the Economy Ministry has confirmed certain delays, the SITA newswire reported.
“At the official meeting of experts in Topoľčianky in June the representative of Slovenské Elektrárne said that the launch of the full commercial operation of the third nuclear block will be postponed again, from November 2016 to the first quarter of 2017,” Economy Ministry spokesperson Miriam Žiaková said, as quoted by SITA.
The fourth block should be finished one year later, in the first quarter of 2018.
Regarding the completion of the third block, the Economy Ministry considers particularly the stretching of cable harnesses and the quality control of some contract works to be critical. In the case of the fourth block there are no critical points in the work, Žiaková said, as reported by SITA.
EMO’s provider Slovenské Elektrárne (SE) is fully concentrating on the completion of the third and forth blocks.
“During the final phase we will test all devices and systems before their operation is launched,” SE spokesperson Janka Burdová said, as quoted by SITA. She added that while the third block is 88.3 percent completed, in the case of the fourth block it is 68.9 percent.
SE has not asked for any increase in the budget yet, though the cost of construction works has increased by €145 million this year, of which €45 million results from the delay in completion works. The integration of organisations securing the nuclear and non-nuclear works may, however, save some €30-40 millions, Žiaková added.
The completion of the third and fourth EMO blocks was originally scheduled for 2012 and 2013, respectively, but was then postponed to 2014 and 2015. Another delay pushed the deadlines to the end of 2016 and the end of 2017. Also the cost increased, from €2.8 billion to the current €4.6 billion.
