Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear plant cuts output amid falling Danube levels

The country’s Energy Ministry stated Thursday that it will "preventively lower the output of Kozloduy's Unit 5 by some 120 MW on August 21". The decision is part of the measures aiming to ensure the safe operation of the nuclear plant, it added.

Unit 5 produces just over 1,000 MW.

It is the first time in the 52-year history of the N-plant that it is forced to reduce its output due to extreme weather conditions, according to the report.

The forecast is for the Danube to continue receding in the Bulgarian section, the Energy Ministry said.

A crisis management working group was set up in early July to address projected long-term European droughts and falling Danube water levels.

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.

Kozloduy NPP has so far been able to operating normally and ensure the security of the national and regional energy system under conditions in which a number of nuclear units in European countries along the Danube have been shut down or their output reduced to the technological minimum, the Energy Ministry recalled.

Earlier, France’s Health Ministry reported that the July 3-22 heat wave had led to an estimated 1,243 excess deaths, based on data from 5,000 municipalities nationwide.