Romania shuts down nuclear reactor for repairs

BUCHAREST: Romania's sole nuclear power plant on the river Danube shut down its second reactor at 0920 GMT on Friday in a controlled environment for repairs, its operator Nuclearelectrica said, estimating it will restart it on April 8.

Nuclearelectrica said the 706 megawatt reactor was shut to fix a glitch in the secondary colling water circuit, adding that the plant's safety was intact and no radioactive leakage occured.

State-owned Nuclearelectrica has two 706 megawatt reactors at Cernavoda, accounting for roughly a fifth of the country's power production, and aims to add two more units by 2020.

The reactors use Canadian CANDU technology, using heavy water as moderator and water from the river Danube for cooling.