Reconstruction of the Warning and Notification System in Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant

Reconstruction of the Warning and Notification System in Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant

Client:
Year of Installation:
Number of Sirens Installed:
Level of Investment:
Area Coverage:
Aim of Project:

Slovenské Elektrárne a. s.
2011 – 2012
over 350
over 11 million €
over 1,400 sq km
Replacement of the old existing warning and notification system in EBO V2 nuclear power plant with a more modern one, meeting all current legislative, operational and technical requirements

Original Condition

DS 977 and KIRKE electromechanical sirens were installed in the area and the surroundings of the nuclear power plant in 1993. They were connected to a public low-voltage distribution network. Being obsolete in their design, they were only able to reproduce constant or warble warning tones and were entirely dependent on the uninterrupted power supply. The siren network had no connection to the national civil defence warning and alert system and did not allow remote diagnostics. The notification was provided by the HADOS receivers and ZUZANA notification server. This server has remained in operation, with PAGING becoming the backbone of the notification system. The notification system has been modernised separately.

nuclear power plant

Solution Description

Warning and notification in both the actual area of the nuclear power plant and the exposed surroundings are ensured using multiple products manufactured by the Telegrafia company, particularly the powerful Pavian electronic sirens and Vektra® control software. Not only does the system meet the client’s requirements, but it also complies with the strict Slovak legislation. During the whole installation period of the new warning system, the original technology had to remain fully operational, and also during the process of interconnecting the new warning and monitoring systems. Therefore, the planning of the disassembly of the original obsolete technology could have only begun after the successful completion of the trial operation and hand-over of the new system.

The used electronic sirens provide a significant qualitative leap forward for the investor. Thanks to their implementation, the newly-built warning system is now fully resistant to a power supply failure, and it can be activated by two independent methods (although technically even more methods can be used). Moreover, it is capable of remote auto-diagnostics of all its components and allows the distribution of pre-recorded messages from the digital memory or live-voice messages via microphone. When compared to the original mechanical sirens, the new electronic sirens provide more excellent coverage and better reproduction quality of an acoustic signal, thus lowering the number of the components necessary to cover the same endangered area.

The implemented solution included several special installations such as the new microwave connection backup of both power plant control centres via optical cable, followed by supplementing the system with the third monitoring control centre, as well as the installation of beacons to provide visual signalisation in noisy manufacturing halls.

The article was written by

Zuzana Jacova

Zuzana works at Telegrafia at the marketing department. Her main responsibility is to keep an eye on Google Ads and Facebook. Online marketing is changing all the time, giving her the chance to expand her knowledge constantly and put it into real practice. After work, she relaxes best by going to the gym and watching good films.

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