GLOBAL NUCLEAR |


These components include the primary circuits (steam


generators, main circulation pumps, main insulation valves, pressurizers, bubble tanks and primary piping), reactor vessel internals, reactor vessels, auxiliary equipment, plant systems and other elements such as the annular water tank. They also include high-activated operational waste, which is stored in a dedicated location. Jacobs’ scope of work includes complete waste


management of the project including delivery of containers and radiological measuring equipment, regulatory and engineering support. The consortium built two new pools where the segmentation of highly radioactive waste can be carried out under a depth of water necessary to shield workers from radiation. Each pool is equipped with two gantry cranes and two working bridges, on which four crews of operators can work simultaneously. The operators cut and package components remotely with cutting tool manipulation and handling systems. They can observe the work using underwater cameras from which live images are projected onto screens on the working bridges. The fragments are characterized before being placed


into the prepared baskets, which were designed and delivered by Jacobs. Jacobs is performing the manipulation with the baskets, from the bottom of the pool to the final destination. The baskets, based on the radiological status of the content, are placed in concrete containers with additional external shielding, which has also been designed and delivered by Jacobs. The turbine building was adapted and reclassified as a


dry cutting workshop so that it can be used to segment six steam generators from each unit. The approach for wet and dry cutting will help to meet the compressed schedule while satisfying all safety and regulatory requirements.


Helena Mrázová, Jacobs Project Manager, said: “We have achieved a very significant milestone, thanks to the hard and effective work of all the team members. I am really glad to have the opportunity to work with such professionals and see the results of their hard work. “COVID-19 interrupted our operations in March and early


April 2020, when we introduced restrictions to safeguard the project team. We did this successfully and returned to site in early April, with strict measures in place to ensure that everyone remained safe.” Marek Mečiar, Jacobs Business Unit Director, said: “The


professional decommissioning skills and high level of safety culture of the Jacobs team have impressed the nuclear regulator’s representatives and all the organizations we are working with.” The Jacobs team at Bohunice is able to reach back


to specialists at the company’s suite of laboratories in Trnava, which has extensive experience of developing analysis methods and decontamination technologies for surface treatment, including electrochemical sampling and scanning electron microscopy. The laboratories are also responsible for the deployment and development of SIAL, Jacobs’ proprietary waste solidification and encapsulation technology. SIAL has been used at nuclear power plants in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Bohunice’s two VVER-440 V-230 reactors were connected


to the grid in 1978 and 1980 and operated until they were shut down in 2006 and 2008. Decommissioning of Bohunice V1 NPP, led by JAVYS, is co-


financed from the sources of the European Union through the Bohunice International Decommissioning Support Fund administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). ■


To learn more: steve.caley@jacobs.com | 7


Above (far left): Part of the reactor vessel in the dismantling pool


Centre and right: Laser cutting


equipment at work


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