Skyline of Bohunice nuclear power plant has changed

All four cooling towers of the defunct V1 nuclear power plant were demolished.

New skyline of the  Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power station after four cooling towers of the V1 nuclear power station were pulled down.  New skyline of the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power station after four cooling towers of the V1 nuclear power station were pulled down. (Source: TASR)

Four cooling towers of the former V1 nuclear power station in Jaslovské Bohunice, western Slovakia, are now history. The final piece was pulled down on Monday, October 1. The towers were a part of the skyline since 1977.

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“Because ferro-concrete material from the cooling towers is neither radioactive nor represents a risk for the environment, it was gradually processed at the spot,” said Miriam Žiaková, spokesperson of the Nuclear and Decommissioning Company (JAVYS), under whose helm the decommissioning is taking place. “Crushed concrete remains on the premises of V1 and is used for filling holes that remained after the demolished cooling towers.”

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Metal trash is recycled. After the whole process is over, the place where the cooling towers used to stand will be covered with grass.

Each of the cooling towers was 120 metres high and 84.4 metres wide at its base. The towers were gradually dismantled.

Read also: How is the skyline over Jaslovské Bohunice changing? Read more 

“An explosive demolition was excluded due to proximity of the neighbouring functioning nuclear power station V2,” said Žiaková.

Closing of V1

Despite extensive upgrades completed in 2000, Slovakia committed itself to closing and decommissioning the two V1 reactors in 1999, prior to its accession to the EU. It disconnected them from the grid in 2006 and 2008. Since this time, the decommissioning process has been taking place.

The two blocks of the V1 nuclear power plant with pressurised-water reactors were connected to the power grid in 1978 and 1980. Its twin, the nuclear power station V2, was gradually connected to the grid in 1984 and 1985 and is still in operation.

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