2.3.2.1 External review missions

The following external review missions to evaluate the safety of Mochovce units have taken place since the drafting in September 1998 of the National Report for Slovakia:

• IAEA mission to evaluate implementation of the Safety Upgrading Program of Mochovce NPP Units 1&2; the mission started in Vienna on 6 October, 1998 and continued in Mochovce on 12 - 16 October, 1998. The IAEA experts stated that all safety relevant issues identified by IAEA for WWER-440 /V-213 units had been resolved correctly and sufficiently.

• IAEA Mission devoted to issues of the NPP Mochovce unit 1 reactor pressure vessel, taking place on 6 - 16 October, 1998. The IAEA experts declared that they had no doubts concerning the integrity of the reactor pressure vessel.

• Repeated IAEA Mission - Assessment of seismic input data (SIDAM) of the Nuclear Power Plants Bohunice and Mochovce, taking place on 16 - 20 November, 1998. The objective of the Mission was to review the method of evaluation of seismic input data and assessment of the impact of external risk of earthquake on NPP safety. As a background material, the POSAR under preparation was used. The Mission evaluated the background documents presented and compared them with the recommendations of the safety guideline IAEA 50 - SG - S1 concerning location of NPPs. In conclusion, procedures and results achieved were evaluated as satisfactory.

• Safety review of NPP Mochovce done by RISKAUDIT (a consortium of technical organizations IPSN and GRS working for national nuclear regulatory authorities of France and Germany) under PHARE project - it was finished in December 1998. The review was a continuation of a safety review finished in December 1994. The objective of the review was to compare NPP Mochovce safety level with units operated in western countries after implementation the Safety Upgrading Programme of Mochovce NPP Units1&2. In conclusion, it was stated that „NPP Mochovce is the first power plant of the former eastern block constructed according to a Soviet project that meets the requirements put on safety of units operated in western countries“. The decision of the operator to involve Slovak, Czech, Russian, French, German and other experienced organizations made a contribution towards the achievement of the above mentioned results that reflect the combination of inherent characteristics and advantages of WWER type reactors with western technology. The permanent surveillance by ÚJD has been supported by the European Commission.

• WENRA stated in its report “Nuclear safety in EU candidate countries”, October 2000 that, “…Although some residual work is still needed to confirm all parts of the safety analyses, the safety level of the Mochovce units 1-2 is comparable to that of nuclear power plants being operated in Western Europe. “