Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Power Plant in Cernavodă (Romanian: Centrala Nucleară de la Cernavodă) is the only nuclear power plant in Romania. It produces around 20% of the country's electricity. It uses CANDU reactor technology from AECL, using heavy water produced at Drobeta-Turnu Severin as its neutron moderator and as its coolant agent. The Danube water is not used for cooling of the active zone (nuclear fuel).

Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant
The Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant
CountryRomania
Coordinates44°19′20″N 28°03′26″E
StatusOperational
Construction beganUnit 1: 1 July 1982
Unit 2: 1 July 1983
Unit 3: 9 February 1984
Unit 4: 15 August 1985
Unit 5: 12 May 1987
Commission dateUnit 1: 2 December 1996
Unit 2: 31 October 2007
Operator(s)Nuclearelectrica
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeCANDU PHWR
Reactor supplierAECL
Thermal capacity2 × 2180 MWth
Power generation
Units operational2 × 706,5 MW
Make and modelCANDU 6
Units planned2 × 706,5 MW (suspended construction)
Units cancelled1 × 655 MW (cancelled at 2.8% complete)
Nameplate capacity1413 MW
Capacity factor92.90% (2017)
92.05% (lifetime) 94.7%
Annual net output10,580 GWh (2017)
External links
Websitewww.nuclearelectrica.ro
CommonsRelated media on Commons
Unit 1
The nuclear power plant in 2006. At the time, only Unit One, on the far right was in commercial operation, unit two came into operation in 2007.

By using nuclear power, Romania is able to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by over 10 million tonnes each year.[1]

The project began in 1978, and the power plant was designed in Canada by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in the 1980s, and was contracted during the Communist era. The initial plan was to build four units, and schedule their startup from 1985 onward. A fifth unit was subsequently planned on the direct orders of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu during a visit to the site.[2] The plant's originally planned units 1 to 4 are in a neat line and unit 5 is offset due to the local geology.[3] Units 1 and 2 are currently operational. Three more partially completed CANDU reactors exist on the same site, part of a project discontinued at the fall of the Ceaușescu regime, their work being halted since 1 December 1990.

CNE-INVEST is responsible for the preservation of Units 3–5.

Reactors

Unit 1

Unit 1, a CANDU 6-type, was finished in 1996 and produces 706.5 MW of electricity. Its scheduled startup, however, would have been circa 1985, had it not been for the economic factors at the time.

It was commissioned and began operating at full power in 1996 and has had record capacity factors of 90 percent since 2005.

In 2019 planning was progressing for a modernisation scheme for 30 years of plant life, to be carried out by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power who have experience of CANDU modernisation at Wolseong. A refurbishment outage is expected from December 2026 and December 2028.[4][5] Optimization work was decided in 2022 to be done by Candu Energy Inc.[6]

Unit 2

A consortium of AECL and Ansaldo Nucleare of Italy, along with the Nuclearelectrica (SNN) SA, Romania's nuclear public utility, was contracted in 2003 to manage the construction of the partially completed Unit 2 power plant and to commission it into service.

Four years later, Unit 2, another CANDU 6-reactor, achieved criticality on 6 May 2007[7] and was connected to the national grid on 7 August. It began operating at full capacity on 12 September 2007,[8] also producing 705,6 MW.

Unit 2 was officially commissioned on Friday, October 5, 2007, during ceremonies attended by Romanian Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu and senior officials from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).[9] This makes CNE-Cernavoda Station the third largest power producer in the country.

Units 3 and 4

Units 3 and 4 were expected to be CANDU 6 reactors with a similar design to Unit 2 and will each have a capacity of ~700 MW.[10] The project was estimated to take up to six years after the contracts are signed.

A 2006 feasibility study carried out by Deloitte and Touche determined that the most economically viable scenario was to build the two reactors at the same time, with the cost estimated at €2.3 billion.[11][12]

On 20 November 2008, Nuclearelectrica, ArcelorMittal, ČEZ, GDF Suez, Enel, Iberdrola and RWE agreed to set up a joint company dedicated to the completion, commissioning and operation of Units 3 and 4. The company named Energonuclear was registered in March 2009.[13]

20 January 2011, GDF Suez, Iberdrola and RWE pulled out of the project, following ČEZ which had already left in 2010, citing "Economic and market-related uncertainties surrounding this project, related for the most part to the present financial crisis, are not reconcilable now with the capital requirements of a new nuclear power project".[14] That left Nuclearelectrica with large majority share in the project, prompting a search for other investors. In November 2013, China General Nuclear Power Corp. (CGN) signed an agreement to invest in the project at an undisclosed level. Shortly thereafter, AcelorMittal and Enel announced plans to sell their stakes.[15]

In 2016 the Romanian government gave support for the creation of a joint venture led by China General Nuclear (CGN) to progress the project.[16][17] In November 2015 Nuclearelectrica and CGN signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the construction, operation and decommissioning of Cernavoda 3 and 4.[18] However, in January 2020 the government under Ludovic Orban decided to abandon the proposal.[5]

In October 2020, new plans were launched with cooperation from the US, Canada and France.[19][20] The two reactors are expected to become functional in 2030 and 2031, respectively.[21]

Unit 5

There are currently no plans to complete Unit 5 at this time.[22] However, the possibility of finishing construction remains.

Incidents
  • In the summer of 2003, the sole operating reactor at the time had to be closed, because of the lack of cooling water. It was brought back online after roughly 2–3 months.
  • On 8 Apr 2009, the second reactor of the Romania's Cernavodă NPP was shut down due to a malfunction which led to electrical outages.[23]
  • On 30 May 2009, Unit 1 of the Romania's Cernavodă NPP was shut down following a water pipe crack. The Cernavodă NPP's second unit was undergoing an overhaul, so it was not producing any electricity.[24]
  • On 16 January 2010, the first unit was shut down due to steam leakage.[25]

See also

References
  1. "Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica and GE partnering to help ensure reliable power for 20% of Romania through $120 million USD nuclear plant service agreement | GE News".
  2. "Misterul reactorului 5 de la Cernavoda". România Liberă (in Romanian). 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  3. Security of energy supply in Europe : natural gas, nuclear and hydrogen. François Lévêque, FranΜ̐ưcois LΜ̐ưevΜ̐ưeque. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. 2010. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-84980-696-1. OCLC 664571319.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. "KHNP teams up with Sargent & Lundy for Romanian project". World Nuclear News. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  5. "Romania cancels China deal on Cernavoda but proceeds with life extension". Nuclear Engineering International. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  6. "SNC-Lavalin to carry out performance optimization work for CANDU nuclear reactor in Romania".
  7. Cernavoda 2 achieves initial criticality Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Hotnews.ro, Reactorul 2 de la Cernavoda a ajuns la capacitate maxima ("The second unit at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant reached at full capacity ") Archived 2007-10-15 at the Wayback Machine, September 12, 2007
  9. 2007 News Releases - Second CANDU Unit in European Union Officially In Service Archived November 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  10. www.adevarul.ro 12 February 2010
  11. "Feasibility Study Proposes Way Forward for Cernavoda-3 and -4 :: NucNet | the Independent Nuclear News Agency".
  12. "National Report under the Convention on Nuclear Safety" (PDF). International Atomic Energy Agency. August 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  13. "Draft agreement finalized for Romanian reactors". World Nuclear News. 2008-03-07. Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  14. rwe.com 20 January 2011: GDF SUEZ, RWE and Iberdrola have decided not to continue to participate in the Cernavoda nuclear project in Romania Archived 2020-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
  15. "UPDATE 2-RWE, Iberdrola, GDF Suez exit Romania nuclear plan". Reuters. 20 January 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012.
  16. "Romania expresses support for China's role at Cernavoda". World Nuclear News. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  17. "Romania and China seal Cernavoda agreement". World Nuclear News. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  18. "Romania and USA agree to nuclear cooperation". World Nuclear News. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  19. "French Orano to join $8bn nuclear power plant expansion project in Romania". bne INTELLINEWS. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  20. "Nuclearelectrica expects to make FID for Cernavoda in 2024 : Corporate - World Nuclear News".
  21. "Decizia Preliminară de Investiție în reactoarele 3 și 4 de la Cernavodă, așteptată luna viitoare. Este condiționată de sprijinul statului". 4 July 2022.
  22. "Cernavoda 2 achieves initial criticality : Other News - World Nuclear News".
  23. Romania's Cernavoda Nuclear Plant Restarts 2nd Reactor, Mediafax, 2009-04-09
  24. Romania’s Nuclearelectrica Shuts Down Nuke Over Water Pipe Crack, Mediafax 2009-05-30
  25. "Unitatea 1 a centralei de la Cernavodă a fost oprită". Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
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