On Friday, August 21, a preventive reduction of the power of the 5th unit of the “Kozloduy“ NPP by about 120 megawatts is expected, the Ministry of Energy announced, quoted by Dariknews.bg.
The decision is part of the measures to ensure the safe operation of the “Kozloduy” NPP and is dictated by the ongoing unprecedented and critical decrease in the Danube River. Forecasts for the river levels before the Bulgarian section continue to show a downward trend. The unit's capacity is usually just over 1,000 megawatts, the Ministry of Energy said.
A measure related to reducing the capacity of a power unit due to extreme meteorological and hydrological conditions is being applied for the first time in the 52-year operational history of the Kozloduy NPP.
Since the beginning of July, with the first indications of a permanent decrease in the Danube level and forecasts of long-term drought in Western and Central Europe, a working group was formed at the nuclear power plant to manage the situation. A procedure was implemented that includes all necessary measures and actions to ensure the safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants in the event of a prolonged drop in river levels, the Ministry of Energy added.
Water from the Danube River is used to cool the steam in the condensers located in the non-nuclear part of the plant, and is not used to cool the nuclear reactors. The water supply is carried out by its own shore pumping station, designed and built to provide the necessary water quantities even at low river levels, the ministry reports.
They add that this, together with the good maintenance of the facilities, has allowed the Kozloduy NPP to operate normally and guarantee the security of the national and regional energy system in conditions in which a number of nuclear power plants in European countries along the Danube were shut down or their production was reduced to a technological minimum, the Ministry of Energy recalls.
In the unprecedented hydrological situation, the nuclear power plant teams continue to work around the clock for the safe and reliable operation of the nuclear facilities.
So far, the Kozloduy NPP has been operating without any changes to the schedule, with additional measures being taken in connection with the unprecedentedly low Danube level. The working group formed at the Kozloduy NPP is considering all possible options for ensuring the operation of the plant, with special attention to the facilities of the shore pumping station, continuously developing technical solutions for optimizing the operation of the shore pumps, the cooling systems of the power units, the spent fuel storage facility and the entire hydrotechnical complex, as well as continuously monitoring and controlling the operation of the facilities.