SN Nuclearelectrica SA standpoint regarding the press release of Mr. Virgil Popescu
Bucharest, December 7, 2017
As regards to the afirmations of Mr. Virgil Popescu, Nuclearelectrica makes the following statements:
From the technical point of view, in the case of a nuclear reactor, it is effectively imposible to announce the “forced” outage of the reactor in advance in case the cause, as Mr. Virgil Popescu mentiones, was a “forced” one.
There is a clear difference between the controlled and assumed outages, as is the case of the outage announced on 06.12.2017 and the outages that occur due to the automated reactor trip which implicitly lead to the disconnection of the reactor from the National Power System. The latter may be communicated by the company only after they occur, not before. In such cases, similar to other unplanned outages, previously communicated by SNN, the company announces the automated disconnection of the reactor from SEN, not the controlled outage, as happened on 06.12.2017.
In the case of the outage scheduled for the evening of 07.12.2017, as the company announced on 06.12.2017, this is a controlled outage aimed at performing several tests and potential remediation as part of the pro-active maintenance program. These testing and potential remediation activities include preventive maintenance of the excitation system of the electric generator, verifications and calibrations, replacement of environment qualified kits and also the testing and remediation of the mechanical system related to the fuel loading-unloading machine.
Thus, as it results from the testing and control activities mentioned above, prepared and announced prior to the actual outage, the “forced outage” hypothesis is excluded.
The National Comission for the Control of Nuclear Activities was notified regarding the programmed disconnection of Unit 2 and the schedule of activities.
Moreover, the period of the controlled outage is planned as not to affect the National Power System.
In this respect, the company disjoins itself from any tentative association with any political activity and requests the respect of its status as an economic entity, fully responsible for managing the nuclear activities related to the operation of the two units under nuclear safety conditions.
Press office
SN Nuclearelectrica SA
