Cernavoda-2 (the second AECL CANDU 6 unit in Romania) attained 100% full power this morning at 03:57 local time. This is the 11th CANDU 6 unit in operation around the world (Point Lepreau in New Brunswick, Gentilly-2 in Quebec, 4 units at Wolsong in Korea, 2 in Romania, 2 at Qinshan in China, and one at Embalse in Argentina).
Romania starts second reactor at Cernavoda nuclear plant
BBC Monitoring European
12 September 2007
Bucharest, Sept 12 (Rompres) - The National Nuclearelectrica SA Co. announced that on Wednesday 12 September 2007, 03:57 hours, within the final stage of operating tests, CNE Cernavoda Unit 2 nuclear reactor attained for the first time 100 per cent in nominal power capacity, following the authorization issued by CNCAN on Wednesday September 5, 2007, the company reports in a press release. This moment is the final one in a several stage process run by Romanian, Canadian and Italian staff from the project's management team, and is also due to technical assistance from the United States and France, with support of the Romanian main contractors and sub-contractors.
The Operational stage started with individual tests, tests of the system groups on the nuclear and classical parts of Unit 2, nuclear fuel loading, attainment of the first critical stage, raising power with the first connection to the national power grid and later on a series of complex tests to operate at 25 pc, 50 pc and 75 pc power levels of the reactor's nominal power.
Further calibration tests are to be carried out, correlation of the turbine power to the one of the nuclear reactor, followed by a contractual test of 10-day uninterrupted operations. The start of Unit 2 commercial exploitation, set for the end of September, 2007 and the increase of nuclear energy contribution to some 18 -20 per cent of Romania's needs is to have immediate effects as regards the energy system's stability and keeping the same tariffs for the population.
By connecting Cernavoda Unit 2 to the national power grid, Romanian nuclear energy is to bring a significant contribution to the energy security both of Romania and of the European Union, under efficiency and safety conditions, without polluting emissions with greenhouse effects for the climate, Nuclearelectrica also pointed out.
Unit 2 was constructed on the basis of a management contract, concluded in 2003 with the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd and ANSALDO Italy. CANDU 6 reactor used by Unit 2 is the second reactor of this type on CNE Cernavoda platform, the first operating successfully since 1996, having celebrated 10 years of safe and efficient exploitation in 2006.
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