Romania begins phased shutdown of Cernavodă NPP

Romania’s national nuclear power operator Nuclearelectrica has begun the controlled shutdown of the second reactor at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant in Constanța County, citing a continued decline in water levels in the Danube.

The first reactor was shut down for the same reason on July 28. With the second reactor now being taken offline, the entire plant will stop generating electricity, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Nuclearelectrica said the decision was based on the need to prioritise nuclear safety. Specialists will assess forecasts for Danube water levels before deciding when the reactors can resume operations.

The shutdown of the second reactor is expected to take about three hours. Once completed, the plant will no longer supply electricity to Romania’s national grid. Its two reactors normally account for around 20% of the country’s electricity generation.

Cernavodă plant director Romeo Urjan told Radio Romania that the shutdown would remove about 700 megawatts of generating capacity. The shortfall is expected to be covered by existing reserves, other power producers and potentially electricity imports from neighbouring countries.

The Energy Ministry has also ordered the restart of a coal-fired unit at the Rovinari power plant and plans to use additional hydropower capacity.

The ministry said restrictions on industrial electricity consumers would be introduced only if necessary. Household electricity consumers would not be affected.

The Cernavoda nuclear plant was forced to close for several weeks in 2003, when only one reactor was operating.

Neighbouring Hungary has so far avoided a full shutdown of its nuclear facility, which also relies on Danube water for cooling.

With the river expected to fall further, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Wednesday that the government had ordered the construction of a submerged weir near the Paks plant.

Two 80-metre barges are also being positioned at Paks and could be sunk to help raise water levels.

The Paks plant’s four reactors normally supply about a third of Hungary’s electricity. However, the facility has already been operating at reduced capacity since late last month.

By Aghakazim Guliyev