A 1,000-megawatt reactor at a Bulgarian nuclear power plant was Sunday reconnected to the national electricity grid after a short circuit put it out of action for a week.
"Energy bloc No. 5 of NPP Kozloduy was switched back on to the country's electric energy grid at 02:04 am (2304 GMT) Sunday after repair," the plant's management said in a statement.
A short circuit in the reactor's generator caused it to automatically switch off from the grid on September 1, forcing a total shutdown for repairs.
No radiation leakage was reported.
"By 11:00 am (0800 GMT) Sunday the capacity of the switched on 1,000-megawatt facility reached 520 megawatts and will continue to increase according to plan," the statement said.
Meanwhile, authorities at the plant began to decrease the capacity of the other 1,000-megawatt reactor at the plant and were planning to switch it off later Sunday for refuelling.
The two reactors are only ones of a total of six at Kozloduy left operational after Bulgaria agreed to mothball the four older 440-megawatt blocs before joining the European Union this year.
The country, which used to be a major electricity exporter on the Balkans, is planning to make up for the lost capacity by constructing two more 1,000-megawatt reactors in Belene in the north.
