PM Dancila demands investigation by Premier's Control Body at Cernavoda nuclear power plant (sources)

Premier Viorica Dancila asked the Control Body under her authority to proceed to an investigation at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant following the capacity's successive malfunctions in the past days, government sources told AGERPRES on Thursday.

Unit 2 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant automatically disconnected from the national power grid following a fault in an electric system, plant operator Nuclearelectrica announced, adding that this was the classic, not the nuclear section of the plant.

"The experts are investigating the cause and will perform the necessary remedy works in accordance with the procedures specific for the nuclear industry in such situations. There is no causal link between Unit 2 ramping down on March 25, 2018 and the automatic disconnection of the reactor on March 29, 2018. The reactor's automatic disconnection from the power grid is provided for and performed in specific situations by the designed protection systems, so this is a conservative standard procedure that does not impact nuclear safety whatsoever," the energy producer's officials explained.

Last Sunday the company announced that Unit 2 had been ramped down to 55 percent of capacity for the replacement of a bearing at the engine of a condensate pump in the classic section of the plant.

On the same day Unit 1 was also subjected to a controlled shutdown for about 48 hours following a malfunction at one of the plant's process control systems.