Although they may not be entirely environmentally safe, nuclear power plants offer one of the best solutions to the problem.
Czechoslovakia’s Skoda JS entered the nuclear marketplace in 1956 and is now one of the largest providers of engineering solutions and equipment for the nuclear energy industry in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2004, a new owner took over the company – the Russian mechanical engineering group OMZ.
Manfred Nowak, President and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Skoda JS, granted Business Mir an interview and discussed the prospects for the company’s development and the nuclear energy industry in general.
Mr Nowak, can you tell us about Skoda JS, a subsidiary of Russia’s OMZ group? For over 50 years, Skoda JS has supplied engineering solutions and equipment for the nuclear energy industry.
We have accumulated considerable experience and earned a global reputation as a reliable supplier. We now employ 930 people and have manufactured 21 VVER-440 and three VVER1000 reactors. In 2004, Russia’s OMZ Group took over Skoda JS as well as Skoda Steel and Skoda Hute, consolidating these three Czech assets into Pilsen Steel.
How is the nuclear energy industry, which is a market structure, interacting with state agencies? Are you taking part in any state-controlled projects? Skoda JS customers in the Eastern European VVER reactor market are large companies that are either fully owned or controlled by the State, such as the Czech CEZ, Ukraine’s Energoatom, Hungary’s MVM State holding company, and Bulgaria’s National Electric Company.
In Finland and Slovenia, nuclear power plants with VVER reactors are primarily owned by private companies, but governments are closely monitoring their operation. Commercial relations with these customers are always formalised, as demanded by the State as a matter of course.
Skoda JS also works in the Western European nuclear energy market, where our customers are mostly private companies.
The few exceptions include contracts with French state companies EDF and Areva for the supply of ERT reactor equipment.
What are the prospects for public-private partnership in the nuclear energy industry? Can such partnerships help to modernise it? All governments consider it important to hold a stake in nuclear technology supplies because it allows them to better coordinate their investment plans.
Also, governments must be able to ensure reliable supplies of fuel during the reactor’s service life.
Currently, a crucial element is stateguaranteed financing of large investment projects, such as modernising and constructing nuclear power plants.
Without this kind of support, no business will risk building a new power unit as the process lasts several years.
Such risks should be divided between the government, the customer and the supplier.
In the past three years, governments across the world have been encouraging new research programmes aimed at increasing the capacity of nuclear equipment.
Which European projects is your company currently involved in? Our latest big investment project is a contract signed in June, 2009 to complete construction of nuclear elements on the third and fourth units at the Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia. The contract was a major victory for us and proves our company’s leading position among Czech suppliers for this type of equipment. It will guarantee the company’s development in the nuclear energy market for years to come and allow us to train a new generation of professionals in the field.
Another important project is modernising the control and command system at the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic. We will also be producing control rod drive mechanisms (CRDM) for VVER-type reactors due to be delivered to Ukraine – although Czech, Hungarian and Slovak power plants also use these mechanisms.
Skoda JS has been cooperating with France’s Areva since 2005 on a project to manufacture equipment for the EPR reactor, the first third-generation pressurised water reactor, which is currently under construction. In June 2009, we signed a contract with Areva to produce internal parts for the EPR reactor on the Taishan 1&2 project in China.
The company is also making a good profit on manufacturing containers for transporting and storing nuclear fuel waste. Working jointly with a German partner, Skoda JS is supplying containers of this kind to CEZ in the Czech Republic as well as to Bulgaria, Lithuania and Western Europe.
We are also trying to sign more contracts for nuclear power plant maintenance.
We have already signed these types of contracts with Czech nuclear power plants Dukovany and Temelin.
The world’s attitude to nuclear power has recently become more positive.
US President Barack Obama has resumed the USA’s nuclear power programme. Italy has lifted the moratorium on nuclear energy and Germany is considering doing the same. How will the nuclear energy industry develop in Europe, Asia and America in the future? The nuclear renaissance era began in Europe in December 2003, when Finland’s TVO - which owns and operates two nuclear power plant units, Olkiluoto 1 and Olkiluoto 2 (OL1 and OL2) – ordered the construction of Olkiluoto 3.
Similar projects were launched in other countries in 2007. For example, Bulgaria’s NEK started building a nuclear power plant in Belene as did France’s EDF in Flamanville.
Many European countries such as Britain, Switzerland, Spain and Sweden started building new nuclear reactors.
On August 3, 2009, Italy announced plans to build at least four nuclear power units, and the Czech CEZ announced a tender for two new units at its Temelin nuclear power plant and also mentioned the possibility of building three more units for its other plants.
The situation in Germany is different. In 2000, the German government and the companies operating nuclear power plants signed an agreement that stipulated gradual decommissioning of all nuclear reactors by the early 2020s.
However, the fluctuation of energy prices, fear of becoming excessively dependent on other countries’ energy resources and the threat of global warming have reopened debates on the expediency of that decision.
The Bush administration in the United States opened the way for the production of new nuclear power units by adopting laws that changed the procedure for licensing new types of reactors and offering support by financing said projects. President Obama will certainly continue to support this policy.
Two nuclear power units are being built in South America – in Brazil and Argentina - and are unlikely to be halted now. Other countries in the region are considering making the choice in favour of nuclear power.
In 2007, Russia announced that it would build two nuclear power units every year, but has subsequently cut its plans by 50% due to the global economic crisis.
Which areas have seen the most international cooperation? Skoda JS has been working with VVER technologies for years, which allows it to modernise equipment, prolong its service life, and offer customers essential services.
We decided that we needed a partner in the field of storing dry nuclear fuel.
Fifteen years ago, we signed a long-term agreement with Germany’s GNS GmbH Essen, a global leader in the storage and transportation of nuclear fuel waste.
Working together, we have produced nearly 300 containers for nuclear power plants.
Enhanced-safety nuclear power units (3G and 3G+ units) are being built in Europe, but only three major players – Areva NP, Westinghouse Electric and Russian design bureaus led by Atomstroyexport – offer certified designs. We are interested in supplying equipment and engineering services to all of these companies.
The Chernobyl disaster has made the world wary of nuclear reactors.
How do you deal with environmental safety issues? What EU environmental norms do you have to take into account when working on your projects? The investor must conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of a proposed nuclear power plant project at the preparation stage and the supplier must also take this into account when formulating its offer. For a project to be implemented in the EU, it must also correspond to the European Utility Requirements for LWR nuclear power plants.
This means that we must strictly comply with project requirements if we want to be listed as a qualified supplier. In particular, we must comply with ISO 9001 (quality standards), ISO 14001 (environmental impact), and OHSAS 18001 (design and manufacturing of nuclear power units). Other norms generally adhered to in nuclear engineering are the standards set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
The process of manufacturing nuclear power equipment is closely controlled by Skoda JS, the customer, and the end user as well, who each monitor the project through all its stages. In addition, we often use the services of independent control agencies, particularly Germany’s TUV.
How will the nuclear energy industry change in the next 20 or 30 years? Which paths will the world choose to follow? Humankind has always adjusted to new challenges.
About 20 years ago, there was no SMS technology, but can you tell me how many SMS messages are sent daily now? I would say it must number in the millions.
Nuclear scientists are conducting research into fourth-generation reactors.
High-temperature and synthesis reactors are currently at various stages of development.
I am confident that humankind will resolve any problems regarding environmentally safe and economically efficient energy production as they arise.
REFERENCE: OMZ is the largest heavy industry company in Russia. It specialises in engineering, production, sales and maintenance of equipment and machines for the nuclear power, oil and gas, and mining industries. It is also active in the production of speci al steels and equipment for other industries.
The company was set up in 1996 in Yekaterinburg as OJSC Ural Machine-Building Plants. In 1998, Izhorskie Zavody became part of the company, which was renamed Obyedinennye Mashinostroitelnye Zavody, or OMZ.
In 2004, Czech companies Skoda Steel and Skoda JS joined OMZ, followed by Cheteng Engineering in 2008.
KATERINA AIZPURVIT
