The Nuclear Power Plant in Cernavodă is a 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. By using nuclear power, Romania is able to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by over 10 million tonnes each year. 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 five units, and schedule their startup from 1985 onwards. 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 Ceauşescu 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 705.6 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.
Unit 2
A consortium of AECL and Ansaldo Nucleare of Italy, along with the Nuclearelectrica 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 and was connected to the national grid on 7 August. It began operating at full capacity on 12 September 2007, also producing 706 MW. Unit 2 was officially commissioned on Friday, October 5, 2007 during ceremonies attended by Romanian Prime MinisterCălin Popescu-Tăriceanu and senior officials from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. This makes CNE-Cernavoda Station the third largest power producer in the country.
Future expansion
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 720 MW. The project was estimated to take up to six years after the contracts are signed. In a feasibility study carried out by Deloitte and Touche, the most economically viable scenario would be to build the two phases at the same time, with the cost estimated at €2.3 billion. 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. 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". That left Nuclearelectrica with large majority share in the project, prompting a search for other investors. In November 2013, China General NuclearPower Corp. signed an agreement to invest in the project at an undisclosed level. Shortly thereafter, AcelorMittal and Enel announced plans to sell their stakes. In 2016 the Romanian government gave support for the creation of a joint venture led by China General Nuclear to progress the project. In November 2015 Nuclearelectrica and CGN signed an memorandum of understanding regarding the construction, operation and decommissioning of Cernavoda 3 and 4. However in January 2020 the Romanian government decided to abandon the proposal..
Unit 5
There are currently no plans to complete Unit 5 at this time. 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 Cernavoda NPP was shut down due to a malfunction which led to electrical outages.
On 30 May 2009, Unit 1 of the Romania's Cernavoda NPP was shut down following a water pipe crack. The Cernavoda NPP's second unit was undergoing an overhaul, so it was not producing any electricity.
On 16 January 2010, the first unit was shut down due to steam leakage.
