Delisa-LTO workshop in conjunction with the France-Czech-Slovak Winter University 2023

From February 6 to 10, 2023, the Franco-Czech-Slovak Winter University 2023 was organized in the Educational and Recreational Facility of the Slovak Technical University (STU) located in Kočovce. This Winter University has been held regularly since 2009 for students and young professionals (under 35 years) from the area of nuclear energy under the auspices of the French Embassy and the Slovak University of Technology. The Winter University was attended by 9 students from the Institute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering of STU, 4 students from the Czech Technical Universities in Prague (ČVUT) and Brno (VUT), 4 employees of UJV Řež and 6 employees of the research institute BAY Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. in Miskolc. The lectures were led by experts from France (EDF, I2EN), the Czech Republic (UJV Řež) and Slovakia (VUJE, UJD, STU).

This year, the Winter University was connected with a workshop within the European project DELISA-LTO, which brought the topic: " Workshop on Integrity Assessment of Main Structural Components Using Decommissioned Bohunice V1-NPP ". The DELISA-LTO project aims to identify critical components of the primary circuit of VVER reactors from the point of view of extending the lifetime of NPPs and to form recommendations for testing the components’ integrity and the effect of thermal ageing on their construction materials. In the project, samples from the primary circuit of the decommissioned NPP V1 in Jaslovské Bohunice will be examined using destructive and non-destructive techniques with an emphasis on the thermal ageing of materials during 28 years of their operation.

On February 7, 2023, the Winter University participants had the opportunity to visit the NPP V1 in Jaslovské Bohunice. They visited the controlled area and learned more about the decommissioning process as well as the selection of materials intended for the DELISA-LTO project. The excursion ended in the V1 information centre with expert lectures and a screening of videos from the work done during components decommissioning. The participants were enthusiastic and had many questions that were thoroughly answered.

As part of the social activities, a guided tour of Beckov Castle was prepared for participants, where they learned a lot about life in the castle and its surroundings from the 14th century to the present day. The participants spent all evenings together in the mansion, where professional and personal topics were discussed, and participants had a chance to know better each other.

The Winter University was closed with the ceremonial handing of certificates and speeches by the organizers. The Winter University 2023 in connection with the DELISA-LTO project was successful and we are looking forward to the next Workshop.