Westinghouse has been awarded two contracts from Nuklearna Elektrarna Krško (NEK) to provide its passive containment dry-filter method (DFM) venting system and a passive autocatalytic recombiner hydrogen-control system at the Krško nuclear power plant in Slovenia. The two systems are designed to enhance safety in the area of severe accident management by providing additional measures for ensuring containment integrity. The engineering, design, supply and installation of the two passive safety systems, including aerosol and iodine filter units, is scheduled to be complete by April 2015.
“We are proud of our long … commitment to the safe operation of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant,” said Javier González, Westinghouse vice president and managing director, southern Europe. “More generally, these contracts reflect the ongoing commitment of Westinghouse to provide the commercial nuclear power industry with products and services that further enhance plant safety and address post-Fukushima lessons learned.”
A fully passive and maintenance-free DFM venting system can effectively depressurise reactor containment while minimising the release of radioactivity. The dry filter method offers technical advantages over other methods, including proven efficiency in aerosol and gaseous iodine removal, a robust and completely passive process control, high -temperature and high-radiation resistance of all filter components and the low flow resistance of the filter units.
Westinghouse has been providing products and services at the plant since the Westinghouse-designed pressurised water reactor entered commercial operation at the beginning of 1983. The relationship was further strengthened in 2002 with a long-term nuclear fuel contract and in 2007 with a service agreement to provide services, turnkey projects, equipment and material/spare parts.
