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Cernavoda nuclear power plant, unit 1
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last update: Jan 31, 2010
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Cernavoda nuclear units 3 & 4 - Romania
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Greenpeace protest at Cernavoda NPP, Romania © Greenpeace (2005)
sector
energy plants, nuclear
description

The Nuclear Power Plant in Cernavoda (Romanian: Centrala Nucleara de la Cernavoda) is the only nuclear power plant in Romania. It produces around 20% of the country's electricity. It uses CANDU 6 reactor technology from AECL, using heavy water produced at Drobeta-Turnu Severin as its neutron moderator and water from the Danube for cooling.

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 Ceausescu regime. Units 3 and 4 are in their planning stages, with expected completion dates of 2014 and 2015 respectively. Unit 5 will not be finished due to the fact that the Danube cannot provide sufficient cooling water.

Units 3 and 4 will 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 production, though it is likely that the complete production of the units 3 and 4 will be exported. 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. In 2008, the Romanian government changed that estimation to €4 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 contract for this company was signed in December 2008 and registered in April 2009 under the name EnergoNuclear.

A new nuclear power station in Romania
There are currently no plans to complete unit 5 of the Cernavoda nuclear power station due to lack of sufficient cooling water in the Danube. There are plans, however, for a completely new nuclear power station in the North of the country. The Romanian government announced in April 2009, it will choose a site later this year.

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

current status (Jun 28, 2009)

The Environmental Impact Assessment of the Cernavoda 3,4 is currently in its final stages.

The Romanian government is looking for possible financial models for the project. A government decision including government loan guarantees, subsidies for heavy water and direct investment from the government budget structural funds had to be reconsidered, as they would constitute illegal state aid.

brief history

The Cernavoda nuclear power plant stems from the 1980s energy plans of communist dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, who wanted to make his country completely energy independent from others. These plans included the big dam project of the Iron Gate II, big dam projects in the Danube at Turnu Magurele and Silistra, large hydro projects in the Carpathian mountains and ambitious wind energy plans in the Danube Delta. Of these, only several hydro projects in the Carpaths and the Iron Gate II project in the Danube were finished.

After the revolution of 1990, the Cernavoda project was halted, but shortly afterward, construction of unit 1 continued, coming on-line on 11 July 1996. After this, also construction of Cernavoda 2 was restarted, which came on line on 7 August 2007.

In the early 2000s, plans to finish construction of units 3 and 4 resurfaced.

dodgy aspects
environment

The CANDU 6 reactors use heavy water for moderation. As a result, these reactors emit more tritium than other nuclear reactor types. On the basis of experiences from the Canadian situation and data from the Environmental Impact Assessment for Cernavoda 3 and 4, Dr. Ian Fairlie, an independent expert on tritium issues, concluded among others: "Recommendations are made to relocate pregnant women and mothers with very young children [from the town of Cernavoda], and to advise local residents not to consume produce grown in local gardens.”1

The Environmental Impact Assessment also describes problems with the amount of water from the Danube necessary for cooling. Upstream from the power station works are carried out to divert more water from the Danube towards the part of the river that skirts the power station.

The power station is located in an area that is seismic active (the Vrancha breach) and that has seen heavy earthquakes in recent history. An earthquake in 1977 destroyed much of the Romanian capital Bucharest and caused damage in the surroundings of Cernavoda.

The CANDU 6 reactor is a second generation nuclear reactor, which lacks sufficient protection against malevolent attack, for instance in the form of the crash of a passenger airplane or the use of shaped headed charges.2

1  Ian Fairlie, Cernavoda 3 and 4: Environment Impact Analysis: Report for Greenpeace, Bucharest (2007) Greenpeace. http://www.greenpeace.ro/uploads/articole/Cernavoda%20Report%20for%20GP%20Central%20Europe.pdf

2   Gordon R. Thompson, The Risks of Operating Candu 6 Nuclear Power Plants, (2008) Greenpeace, http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/documents-and-links/publications/candu6_report

human rights

During the Environmental Impact Assessment, Greenpeace organised a presentation of a report by Dr. Ian Fairlie into tritium emissions from Cernavoda. During the presentation in the town hall in Cernavoda, the operator Nuclearelectrica created an intimidating atmosphere by organising disruptive attendance, strongmen at every door, intrusive surveilance of Dr. Fairlie and the Greenpeace team and registration of all attendants of the presentation by taking in their ID cards at the entrance of the town hall. Local human rights activists criticised the resulting lack of possibility for local inhabitants to discuss the findings presented by Dr. Fairlie freely.

gender aspects

The high tritium emissions of CANDU 6 reactors are especially risky for pregnant women and children up to 4 years old (see above).

other issues

The Romanian Government is aware of the financial risks involved in this project. In order to convince the six strategic investors, it decided to put extensive state aid into the project, but did not sufficiently realise this will be in breach with European state aid regulations.

The Government decided to grant a government guarantee for 220 Million Euro, a subsidy for 855 tons of heavy water for the sum of 350 Million Euro and 800 Million Euro from the National Development Fund, from which 20 Million Euro is to be allocated in 2009. CEE Bankwatch and Greenpeace have complained about this state aid to the European Commission.1

financial institutions involved

unknown which banks will finance

what must happen

Banks should refuse to provide capital for this project or for Electronuclear or any of the strategic investors, as the project does not work with state of the art nuclear technology (a 2nd generation reactor design), has unacceptable effects on the environment (e.g. tritium emissions), and goes counter the development of a sustainable energy policy for Romania.