Just three days after its first reactor was brought back online, Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear power plant had to shut it down again.
The excitement over the launch of the first reactor at Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear power plant quickly turned to disappointment. Just three days after returning to service, the reactor was taken offline once again.
Officials have so far cited an equipment fault. However, the Ministry of Energy has not ruled out human error. Its specialists are now investigating whether negligence during maintenance work carried out while the reactor was offline may have contributed to the incident.
Following the forced shutdown, staff at Cernavodă began bringing the plant’s second reactor back online ahead of schedule. It is expected to reconnect to the national grid tomorrow and reach its planned output on November 12.
The shutdown has left Romania short of 600 megawatts of generating capacity. The country has had to make up the shortfall through additional electricity imports, purchased at higher prices.
The incident is also important for Moldova. The country relies on imported electricity for more than 80% of its needs. Any disruption to Romania’s nuclear power generation could therefore have serious consequences for Moldova’s energy supply.
