The level is forecast to remain below the threshold for another five days, News.ro reported. According to available information, no special measures have been taken, aside from the suspension of traffic on the Danube-Black Sea Canal, to make more water available to the NPP.
Authorities have previously explained that a fall below this threshold could pose an ‘operational risk’ to the supply of water needed to cool the plant’s reactors.
According to measurements by the Lower Danube River Administration (AFDJ), the Danube level at Cernavoda stood at -262 cm on Saturday, October 17, -266 cm on Sunday and -268 cm on Monday. The critical threshold is -262 cm, measured against the so-called ‘zero elevation’ - the conventional reference level established at each hydrometric station against which the height of the river is measured.
AFDJ expects the Danube level at Cernavoda to remain below the critical threshold for another five days.
In this context, News.ro asked government representatives, interim transport minister Radu Miruță, representatives of Nuclearelectrica and the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control what measures were being taken to ensure the safe operation of the Cernavoda NPP. However, the news outlet said it received no response.
In a document sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange last week, the nuclear power plant’s operator, Nuclearelectrica (BVB: SNN), announced that both reactors were being maintained in a safe shutdown state. The company said the current situation posed no risk to nuclear safety and that the plant had several cooling systems designed to operate at different cooling-water levels, which are activated and used according to specific technical parameters.
Nuclear safety functions are therefore fully ensured at all times, the company emphasised, adding that the units would remain in a safe shutdown state until the Danube level allowed operations to resume safely.
The only institution to provide a statement on the critically low Danube level at the Cernavoda NPP was the National Administration ‘Romanian Waters’, which said that water levels were expected to rise after October 23 and that use of the Danube-Black Sea Canal for transport had been suspended to secure more water for the NPP.
"Following an analysis of the forecasts, which indicate a slight upward trend after October 23, and inter-institutional discussions, it was decided to reduce the flow allocated to transport on the Danube-Black Sea Canal. This will maintain levels in the Cernavoda section that continue to allow optimal water intake for the cooling systems of the Cernavoda NPP," officials from the National Administration ‘Romanian Waters’ told News.ro.
The locks will therefore be opened only for transport considered essential, they said.
"Consequently, no additional operational pumping procedures are required on the [Cernavoda NPP] site," they concluded.