On July 3, six students from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and five members of the junior research group "New Systems for Resource Conservation" visited the nuclear power plant Temelín in the south of the Czech Republic. The excursion was initiated by students of the Energy Technology course and organized by the substitute lecturer Doc. Ing. Karel Frana Ph.D. from the TU Liberec. 

The power plant consists of two reactor units of the Russian type VVER 1000. With a thermal reactor output of 3000 _MWth , each of the two units supplies an electrical output of 1013 _MWel and thus provides around 15 % of the Czech Republic's electricity requirements. The design of the reactors and safety systems is comparable to that of western pressurized water reactors, such as those operated in Germany. There are significant differences in the design and operation of the secondary circuit. For example, the Czech turbines are operated at a speed of 3000  ^min-1 and the German turbines at 1500 ^min-1 . In addition, a horizontal design in Temelín was compared with the upright arrangement of the steam generators and superheaters in Germany. 

During the tour and through a series of presentations, the participants were given an insight into the operation and functioning of a nuclear power plant. After a welcome in the power plant's information center, the agenda included a tour of the secondary circuit in the machine hall and the outdoor facilities, including the wet cooling towers and transformers of the 400 kV transformer station. During the tour, it was reported that since the commissioning of the two power plant units (2002 and 2003) until 2014, investments worth 5 billion Czech crowns were made to increase efficiency. These measures enabled an increase in output of around 200 MW. 

Afterwards, the participants were able to gain an insight into the multi-year training of operating personnel on a simulator - which is a faithful reproduction of the unit control room - as well as the safety precautions for incidents and accidents. After refreshments, an overview lecture on the current status of energy supply in the Czech Republic and a discussion round with the power plant operator's personnel manager concluded the day.

Special thanks go to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Friends of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences for financing the excursion, as well as to Mr. Doc. Ing. Karel Frana Ph.D. and his wife for their active interpreting and the organization of the excursion.

Text: Franz Thiele with the assistance of Dr. Clemens Schneider and Stella Silbermann