Bulgaria’s only nuclear power plant to die down reactor after coolant leak | World news

Bulgaria’s only nuclear power plant will shut down one of its reactors on Saturday – its third shutdown so far this year – after a leak of radioactive coolant was discovered.

Two previous incidents involving electrical malfunctions at the Kozloduy reactors, located in northwestern Bulgaria on the Danube River, have caused shutdowns in June and October.

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The fire at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant was within safe limits when it was detected last week in the reactor, its operator said on Friday, adding that he had decided to monitor the reactor at that time.

Kozloduy NPP said on Friday that it decided to “shut down the reactor before the limits in the technical process are reached”.

He added that “there is no change in the evolution situation in the working areas and in the Kozloduy field”.

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Reactor 6 should be shut down on Saturday morning. It was not immediately clear when it would be reconnected to the grid.

Kozloduy’s second active reactor, the 1,000-megawatt unit 5, is operating at full capacity.

Kozloduy generates about a third of the country’s electricity and is important for Bulgaria’s energy security especially in the winter months.