Defence Minister Radu Miruta said in Sadu on Wednesday that the level of the Danube at Cernavoda had fallen to 182 centimetres, meaning that procedures to shut down the nuclear power plant would begin on Thursday morning, with the process being 'extremely well defined.'

'This morning, the Danube was at 182 centimetres, well below the 185-centimetre level. (...) This means that yesterday's decision remains in place, namely that the shutdown procedure will begin tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. It is not an instantaneous process, but one involving a reduction in capacity. It is an extremely well-defined process, with all the steps known. It is unlikely that miracles will happen by tomorrow, but the technical committee at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant is a very serious one. We do not play around with nuclear fission or with such nuclear reactions, which take place at Cernavoda,' the Defence Minister said.

He pointed out that the measures taken in connection with the situation at the Bala branch had succeeded in extending the plant's operation by several days, describing this as a 'partial gain.'

'When we implemented, as a Government, the technical solution proposed by the Romanian Waters authorities, we did so following discussions with Nuclearelectrica, who demonstrated to us that all the costs of the operation involving blasting the rock and sinking the barges would be offset if we gained one day of operation for the Cernavoda plant. We gained almost a week. We would have liked to have gained much more time, but we carried out the plans drawn up by these specialists. I believe it is a partial gain, because the plant's operation was not extended by another nine days as initially forecast, but it is still a gain because today is Wednesday and the plant did not shut down last Thursday. The fact that it is still operating today is due to the measures that were taken to extend its operation by several days,' Miruta said. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Sorin Blada; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)