Romania began a controlled shutdown of Unit 2 at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant after the Danube River fell below the level required to keep the reactor operating. The step followed the closure of the facility’s first reactor in late July, leaving both units at the country’s only nuclear power station offline. [15454]
Nuclearelectrica, the state-owned operator, attributed the decision to the river’s continuing decline. Cernavodă relies on Danube water to cool its two reactors and, when both are running, provides about 20% of Romania’s electricity generation. The shutdown came as severe drought, high temperatures and limited rainfall pushed the river to record-low levels. [15454]
The operator said keeping the two units in a safe shutdown condition would not affect nuclear safety parameters for plant personnel, the public or the environment. The process was described as controlled rather than an emergency stoppage. [15454]
Romania’s Ministry of Energy said the country’s electricity needs were expected to be fully met through alternative sources and imports after Unit 2 went offline. Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan had announced a nationwide state of alert for the energy sector on July 31, covering August, as authorities sought to manage the effects of the drought on power supplies. [15454]
Before the second shutdown became necessary, Romanian authorities attempted an unusual engineering intervention intended to direct more water toward the plant. Four barges loaded with rock were sunk near the Danube’s Bala Canal after the military used explosives to clear submerged rocks. The barges were intended to form an underwater barrier that would steer water into the river’s main channel and toward Cernavodă. Despite those measures, the river continued to recede until operating requirements could no longer be met. [15454]
The disruption illustrates how prolonged heat and drought can affect electricity infrastructure that depends on reliable river flows. At Cernavodă, the immediate constraint was not fuel availability or an equipment failure but access to sufficient cooling water under the plant’s operating requirements. [15454]
Low Danube levels were also creating concern elsewhere in the region. Authorities in Hungary were considering measures including sinking barges and constructing a bed sill to raise water levels near the Paks nuclear power plant. According to the supplied reporting, Paks—Hungary’s only nuclear station—was close to a possible shutdown for the first time in its 44-year history. [15454]
Romanian officials did not provide, in the supplied evidence, a date for restarting either Cernavodă reactor. Any return to service would depend on operating conditions and decisions by the plant operator as authorities continued monitoring the river and the wider energy system.
