Press release 29 March 2018

PRESS RELEASE

regarding the unplanned shutdown of Unit 2 of Cernavodă NPP on 29 March 2018

In accordance with Law no. 111/1996, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented, the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) is responsible for the regulation, licensing and control of nuclear activities, including those in the field of nuclear power generation.

The unplanned shutdown of Unit 2 of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on 29 March this year took place under full radiological and nuclear safety conditions, in accordance with the Cernavodă NPP system procedures and with the technical specifications of the main power equipment, turbine and generator, provided by the suppliers, and in compliance with the procedures for transferring the nuclear reactor to low-power operation for the duration of the activities to locate the fault and to remedy it, until return to service, reconnection to the grid and loading to full power.

The unit of CNCAN specialists permanently based on the Cernavodă NPP site took part in the oversight of the unplanned shutdown of Unit 2 in accordance with CNCAN procedures, monitoring the operating parameters and verifying the complete absence of radiological impact on the operating personnel, the environment and the local population, as well as the absence of any radiological or nuclear event.

In this regard, we confirm that on the territory of Romania environmental radioactivity is 10 times lower than the alarm limit (200 Bq/m³), and that the external gamma dose rate is, on average, 10 times lower than the alarm limit (10 µSV/h). These data are confirmed on the basis of the reports of the National Environmental Radioactivity Surveillance Network of the National Environmental Protection Agency, which contain information on the radioactivity of aerosol samples.

At present, Cernavodă NPP personnel are carrying out activities to remedy the causes that led to the unplanned shutdown of Unit 2, as well as activities for its safe restart.