Nuclear power in Europe

Cernavoda nuclear plant´s unit two was briefly stopped yesterday morning, because of a leak of primary agent within the reactor´s protective building. “No problems were registered in connection with protection of employees, equipment and environment, as the entire security system functioned in line with regulations,” Nuclearelectrica, the company which operates the plant, said in a release.

The unit is to be restarted and synchronized with the National Energy System after plant officials determine the causes of the leak, fix the malfunction, and perform conformity tests to make sure everything is in working order.

The contradictory declarations made over time by the management of the National Company Nuclearelectrica and the Autonomous Administration for Nuclear Activities make us believe that something is rotten with the nuclear reactors in Cernavodă: either the emanated tritium concentration is much higher than it should be, thus jeopardizing the environment, or we already have a large surplus of heavy water, in which case it is not justified to continue production until 2017… (more…)

Balkan states are gambling on the nuclear option as the best way to reduce the energy shortage but whether the risks pay off remains to be seen.

The three guards stand at the gate in the 40°C afternoon heat, ignoring the bustle around them. Grim-looking barbed wire coils round the top of the tall fence, as if designed to stop convicts escaping from prison. (more…)

RWE Power, Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica and five other partners have given the provisional go-ahead for an investment contract towards the creation of a joint venture company in Romania.

The contract will be signed by the participating companies upon approval by the Romanian government. The contract seeks to construct Unit-3 and Unit-4 of the Cernavoda nuclear power station in Romania, using the Canadian CANDU reactor technology. (more…)

SOFIA, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Romania is due to sign a deal with selected foreign bidders to build two more reactors at its nuclear power plant in Cernavoda on Nov. 20, one of the investors, GDF Suez, said on Tuesday. Earlier this year, the Balkan country decided to retain a 51 percent stake in the planned reactors and leave the remaining 49 percent for the six bidders it chose last year as partners.

The partners are Belgian Electrabel, owned by French power giant GDF Suez, German power giant RWE, Czech utility CEZ, Italy’s Enel, Spain’s Iberdrola and a Romanian unit of steel giant ArcelorMittal. (more…)

CEZ Romania expects the construction of the third and fourth reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear plant to be delayed about one year. On the other hand, CEZ bought in Eastern Romania a wind energy project evaluated at 100 million euro.

“We haven’t been invited until now to continue the negotiations for the construction of the two Cernavoda rectors”, said the CEZ Development Manager, Doru Voicu, who added that the company also waits for a response from Termoelectrica, in order to establish a partnership and build two thermal plants. (more…)

Romania is eyeing construction of a new nuclear plant with capacity of between 2,000 and 2,400 megawatts, whose first unit could come on line after 2020, the head of the state nuclear operator Nuclearelectrica said on Friday.

Along with some other former communist EU members, Romania is at the forefront of a renewed push for nuclear energy as an alternative to coal and gas which emit carbon dioxide, blamed for global warming. Nuclearelectrica operates Romania’s only nuclear power station in Cernavoda, where the first of two 706MW units went on stream in 1996. (more…)

Two nuclear reactors in Romania set to produce electricity are based on out-dated technology, critics of the power resource tell The Diplomat.

The nuclear power plant in Cernavoda, Constanta county, has plans to build two more reactors based on the same Canadian CANDU technology used in its existing two reactors.

Power companies such as Belgium’s Electrabel, Italy’s Enel, Spain’s Iberdrola, the Czech Republic’s CEZ, Arcelor-Mittal Romania and Germany’s RWE are six firms in the process of establishing a joint venture with the Romanian state’s nuclear power company Nuclearelectrica to raise the 2.2 billion Euro needed for the construction of the reactors. (more…)

The Associated Press, November 14, 2007 – CONSTANTA, Romania: A nuclear reactor in Romania automatically switched off Wednesday for the second time in a week, officials said.

There was no danger to workers or to people living near the Cernavoda nuclear plant in eastern Romania, National Nuclear Electric Co. spokeswoman Mihaela Stiopol said. (more…)

The Associated Press, November 7, 2007 – CONSTANTA, Romania: A nuclear reactor in Romania automatically switched off Wednesday, after it began to produce radioactive material, officials said.

There was no danger to workers or to people living near the Cernavoda nuclear plant in eastern Romania, National Nuclear Electric Company spokeswoman Mihaela Stiopol said, adding that the environment also was not threatened. (more…)