Romania’s only nuclear power plant in Cernavodă (CNE Cernavodă) was shut down amid the lowering water level of the Danube, and the country has already begun importing electricity, Digi24 reports, writes UNN.
Details
The Cernavodă nuclear power plant, which had been supplying approximately 680 megawatts to the National Energy System in recent days, began to be gradually shut down on Thursday morning. The procedures to disconnect reactor No. 2 began today at 7:00 a.m., and from approximately 11:00 a.m. the plant was no longer supplying energy to the system.
The nuclear power plant operator Nuclearelectrica began maneuvers to carry out the controlled shutdown of Unit No. 2 at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant on Thursday morning, the company said in a statement submitted to the Bucharest Stock Exchange. "The decision to carry out the controlled shutdown of Unit No. 2 was prompted by the continuing significant decline in the level of the Danube River. The controlled shutdown of Unit No. 2 is being carried out in accordance with the procedures applicable in such situations. (...) Depending on developments in forecasts for the Danube’s level, specialists at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant will decide when to reconnect the nuclear units," the statement said.
It is still unclear when the plant will be restarted. Until then, Romania depends on imports.
"Just a few minutes after the shutdown of the second reactor at Cernavodă, Romania felt the first consequences: for the first time, we imported energy during the lunch break," the publication notes.