By Reuters Staff
(Adds works to reconnect the reactor later on Friday)
SOFIA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Kozloduy nuclear power plant in Bulgaria has shut down one of its two 1,000 megawatt units after a protection system was activated at its Unit 5 following a routine technical operation, a senior Bulgarian official said on Friday.
“During a technical operation the automatic defences activated at 0117 a.m. local time. All systems have been checked and there is no reason for concerns in the public,” Ramadan Atalai, a member of the parliamentary energy commission told the national BNT channel.
A press officer at the Kozloduy plant confirmed the unit was automatically shut and said that there was no radioactive contamination.
Iraq has reduced annual supplies of Basra crude oil to several Indian refiners by up to 20% for 2021, industry sources said, in a rare move by OPEC's second-largest producer which is trying to meet its obligations under the group's production deal.
Bulgaria's government is considering installing Russian nuclear equipment it has acquired for its Belene project at its existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant, the government said on Wednesday, after it abandoned a plan to use U.S. technology for now.
Global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from oil and gas production dropped 10% in 2020 mainly because of lower output as opposed to concerted climate action, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) found.
Saudi Arabia expects to re-open its embassy in Qatar in the coming days, Saudi's foreign minister said on Saturday, following a U.S.-backed detente last week in a three-year-old dispute between Arab states.