Key facts
- Romania shut down its last operating nuclear reactor at the Cernavodă plant on Thursday.
- The shutdown was caused by record low Danube River levels, affecting the plant's cooling system.
- The Cernavodă plant's Unit 2 typically provides about 700 megawatts, or 10% of Romania's electricity.
- Romania plans to offset the power loss with imports, hydropower, wind, coal, and reserve generation.
- A restart for Unit 2 is not expected within the next 10 days due to continued low Danube levels.
Romania began shutting down its sole operating nuclear reactor on Thursday as record-low water levels on the Danube River have forced nuclear power shutdowns across central and eastern Europe. Nuclearelectrica, the state-owned operator, initiated the process to disconnect the reactor at the Cernavodă plant, located on the Danube.
This follows the shutdown of another reactor at Cernavodă at the end of July due to a severe summer drought that has caused Danube water levels to fall to their lowest in 90 years. The two reactors at Cernavodă typically generate about a fifth of Romania's electricity. To compensate for the loss, the country has activated a 330-MW coal-fired power plant and plans to increase reliance on wind power.
Plant director Romeo Urjan stated that a restart is not anticipated within the next ten days, citing the continuous decrease in the Danube's flow and level. Previous emergency measures, including blasting rocks and sinking barges, had temporarily secured enough water for cooling and extended the operation of the second reactor by about a week.
The drought's impact on river levels is a widespread European issue. Hungary is also facing similar challenges and is preparing to sink barges and build a sill on the Danube to keep its Paks nuclear plant operational. France, Europe's largest nuclear power producer, has also had to curb output due to heatwaves and low river levels impacting cooling capabilities.