The Board of Directors of the National Nuclear Electricity Company (SNN) decided, on Monday, to postpone the planned stop of Unit 1 of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, informs the company, in a statement sent on Tuesday to the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the Financial Supervisory Authority.

The decision to postpone the planned cessation of Unit 1 Cernavoda NPP was determined by the current context of the COVID-19 epidemic, corroborated with the measures related to the Plan for ensuring the protection of personnel and the continuity of operation and production, the Nuclearelectrica press release states.

“The postponement of the planned stopping of Unit 1 Cernavoda NPP does not affect the maintenance of the high level of nuclear safety and efficiency in operation, the production will be carried out at normal parameters,” is mentioned in the Nuclearelectrica statement, quoted by Agerpres.

Usually, the planned shutdowns of nuclear units are performed alternately, every two years for each unit, during the May-June period, for about 30 days, according to the source.

“Since the preparation of a planned stop is a complex investment project through the logistic, contracting and personnel structure involved, the Board of Directors decided to postpone the stopping of Unit 1 for a period that would allow the implementation of the project without associating with the risk of contamination with COVID-19,” is stated in the press release.

The measure of delaying the planned stop, during this period, is a common practice for nuclear power plants using CANDU technology. The establishment of the new planned stopping period will be based on an internal analysis of all impact factors, according to Nuclearelectrica.