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 | |
| Country | Romania |
| Coordinates | 44°19′20″N 28°03′26″E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | Unit 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 date | Unit 1: 2 December 1996 Unit 2: 31 October 2007 |
| Operator(s) | Nuclearelectrica |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | CANDU PHWR |
| Reactor supplier | AECL |
| Thermal capacity | 2 × 2180 MWth |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 2 × 706,5 MW |
| Make and model | CANDU 6 |
| Units planned | 2 × 706,5 MW (suspended construction) |
| Units cancelled | 1 × 655 MW (cancelled at 2.8% complete) |
| Nameplate capacity | 1413 MW |
| Capacity factor | 92.90% (2017) 92.05% (lifetime) 94.7% |
| Annual net output | 10,580 GWh (2017) |
| External links | |
| Website | www |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
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 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. The plant's originally planned units 1 to 4 are in a neat line and unit 5 is offset due to the local geology. 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.