Reactor 1 of nuclear power plant Cernavoda restarted after repairing works, following 2-day pause

The reactor was paused on May 30 when authorities announced it will be restarted on June 2 after checking and repairing works end, the general manager Nuclearelectrica, Pompiliu Budulan, told NewsIn.

The unit was stopped after porosity was discovered on an impulse pipe at the instrumentation system of the primary circuit. 

Nuclearelectrica turned to buying 500 MW from the power exchange operator OPCOM in order to supply to contractors, Budulan said. Another source of buying will be producers with which it already works. 

On May 8 the company announced the reactor 2 of the power plant will pause for a month and go into technical revision. Yet, Bududan said on Monday that unit 2 will be reconnected to the grid and run at full capacity starting June 2.

Nuclearelectrica was set up in 1998 and controls the two units of the nuclear power plant in Cernavoda and the nuclear fuels plant in Pitesti. The two reactors each have an installed power of 700 MW. Other two reactors will be constructed and connected to the grid after 2016. The new units will have a similar power.

Nuclearelectrica, a state-run company, is the second largest electricity producer in the country, providing about 18 percent of the necessary energy, after hydropower producer Hidroelectrica.