SOFIA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria will reduce the output of one of the two operational units at its only nuclear power plant by about 12 percent as Danube water levels continue to fall, the Energy Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The precautionary reduction at the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Unit 5, prompted by extreme weather and hydrological conditions, will be the first in the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant's 52-year history, the ministry said.
The measure was necessary to ensure the safe operation of the plant, located about 200 kilometers north of Sofia on the bank of the Danube River. The plant relies on river water to condense steam in its non-nuclear section, although the water is not used to cool its reactors, the ministry said.
The Danube has fallen to a critically low level and is forecast to decline further.
Several nuclear power plants in European countries along the Danube have been shut down or had their output reduced to the minimum required for operational safety, the ministry said.
Kozloduy, Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant, generates more than one-third of the country's electricity. Its two operational 1,000-MW units were commissioned in 1987 and 1991.
