Romania to get new nuclear reactor in ’07
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s second nuclear reactor in the Cernavoda power plant will reach its full capacity in July next year, after being connected to the grid in April, the economy ministry said yesterday. The Black Sea country operates only one 706.5 megawatt Canadian Candu reactor in Cernavoda on the Danube River. It is looking for investors to build two more reactors at the plant. «The Unit 2 will reach its maximum output capacity in July next year,» the economy ministry said in a statement. «It is now undergoing complex tests which will be finished at the beginning of the second quarter of 2007.» Work at the plant, designed to have five reactors, began 30 years ago during the former communist regime. Construction stopped in 1990 when a survey revealed some of the equipment was in poor condition and the welding was faulty. The ministry also said total investment into the second reactor was 917 million euros. The plant will account for up to 18 percent of Romania’s power generation after the second reactor comes onstream.
