Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant

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Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant
Data
Country Romania
Operator Nuclearelectrica
Built 1980s
Start of commercial operation 2 December 1996
Reactors
Reactors active 2 (1,400 MW)
Power
Capacity  MW
Other details
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.
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.

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 water from the Danube for cooling.

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

The power plant was designed in Canada by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in the 1980s, during the Communist era. The initial plan was to build five units.

Units 1 and 2 are currently fully operational. Three more partially-completed CANDU reactors exist on the same site, part of a project discontinued at the close of the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime. Units 3 and 4 are in their planning stages, with expected completion dates of 2014 and 2015 respectively.

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

Contents

[edit] Reactors

[edit] Unit 1

Unit One was finished in 1996 and produces 705.6 MW of electricity.

It was commisionned and began operating at full power in 1996 and has had record capacity factors of 90 per cent since 2005. Unit 1 recently completed over 300 days without an interruption in service.

The reactor is a CANDU 6 type.

[edit] Unit 2

Unit Two achieved criticality on 6 May 2007 [1] and was connected to the national grid on 7 August. It began operating at full capacity on 12 September 2007[2], also producing 706MW.

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). [3]. This makes CNE-Cernavoda Station the largest power producer in the country.

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

The reactor is a CANDU 6 type.

[edit] Future expansion

 This article or section contains information about a planned or proposed power plant, or power plant under construction.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the construction and/or completion of the power plant approaches, and more information becomes available.

[edit] Units 3 and 4

Units 3 and 4 are expected to be CANDU 6 reactors with a similar design to Unit 2 and will each have a capacity of 750 MW. When completed, the four units combined are expected to provide up to 40 % of Romania's total electricity needs, reducing its dependence on fossil fuels for electricity generation. Units 3 and 4 are expected to be operational by 2014 and 2015 respectively. The project is 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 7 March 2008, Nuclearelectrica, ArcelorMittal, CEZ, Electrabel, Enel, Iberdrola and RWE agreed to set up a company dedicated to the completion, commissioning and operation of Units 3 and 4. The company is expected to be registered in May 2008.[4]

[edit] Unit 5

There are currently no plans to complete Unit Five [1] at this time. However, the possibility of finishing construction remains.

Options include the current CANDU 6 reactor, an enchanced CANDU 6 reactor producing 740 MW, or the Advanced CANDU Reactor.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cernavoda 2 achieves initial criticality
  2. ^ 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 "), September 12, 2007
  3. ^ 2007 News Releases - Second CANDU Unit in European Union Officially In Service
  4. ^ "Draft agreement finalized for Romanian reactors", World Nuclear News, 2008-03-07. Retrieved on 2008-03-07. 

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 44°19′20″N, 28°03′26″E

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