Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, is supplying around 5,000 km of specialized low-voltage (LV) power, control and instrumentation cables for the new Units 3 and 4 pressurized water reactors (PWRs) currently under construction at the Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia. The contract exceeding 20 million Euros was awarded to Nexans by Slovakia’s electric utility Slovenské Elektrárne (part of Italy’s ENEL Group).

The K3 type that Nexans is supplying for the Mochovce project have been specifically designed and tested to deliver exceptional performance, reliability and safety in nuclear power installations. They ensure enhanced fire-performance in emergency situations based on a high level of fire-retardancy and fire-resistance together with low-smoke and low toxicity characteristics provided by the use of zero-halogen materials.

“The key factors that enabled Nexans to win the Mochovce contract were our nuclear qualified products, combined with the experience we can offer from previous nuclear power projects in which we proved our capability to handle the complex project management issues and high levels of documentation required by customers in the nuclear industry”, says Olivier Dervout, Nexans’ Nuclear Industry Senior Sales Manager. “Slovakia has a strong commitment to the future of nuclear energy and we are delighted to be working with Slovenské Elektrárne on this vital project to develop the country’s power generation infrastructure.”

The cables for the Mochovce nuclear power plant are being manufactured in the Nexans Mehun-sur-Yèvre plant in France and they will be installed on site over a 12-month period starting in January 2011.

Mochovce project background

The Mochovce nuclear power plant currently comprises two 470 MW PWR reactor units, commissioned in 1998 and 2000, that together supply over 20 percent of the electricity consumed in Slovakia.

The current project will add two new 440 MW PWRs (Units 3 and 4). Completion works were restarted by Slovenske elektrarne as its key investment project after entering Enel Group in 2008 and they are planned to come on line in 2012 and 2013 respectively.