Romania has suspended operations at its only nuclear power plant as record-low water levels in the Danube River threaten cooling capabilities.
Romania has officially suspended operations at its only nuclear power facility, the Cernavoda plant, following a critical decline in the water levels of the Danube River. The river serves as the essential cooling source for the plant's reactors, and the current environmental conditions have rendered continued operation impossible. Nuclearelectrica, the nation’s state-run nuclear energy provider, confirmed that the second reactor was placed into a controlled shutdown this week, following the closure of the facility's first reactor last month.
The decision to cease operations comes as the region grapples with a severe, prolonged drought that has affected vast swaths of the European continent. Recent hydrological analyses indicate that flow rates across nearly two-thirds of the Danube have reached their lowest points in over thirty years. Plant director Romeo Urjan has stated that a resumption of activities is unlikely within the next ten days, pending a significant change in the river’s hydrological status.
Before arriving at this total shutdown, Romanian authorities exhausted several engineering interventions to preserve the plant’s functionality. The government allocated over 2 million euros in a desperate bid to redirect the Danube’s flow toward the facility’s cooling intake systems. These efforts included the demolition of a large rock formation that had obstructed the waterway and the strategic sinking of four rock-filled barges to manipulate river currents.
Despite these significant investments and physical interventions, the environmental pressure proved too great. The plant typically provides approximately 20 percent of Romania’s total electricity supply, making its absence a major challenge for the national grid. The Ministry of Energy has confirmed that while electricity imports and domestic wind power are compensating for the loss, the situation remains precarious.
The energy crisis is not confined to Romania; neighboring Hungary is facing a similar dilemma regarding its own Paks nuclear facility. Like Cernavoda, the Paks plant relies on the Danube for cooling, and it has been operating under partial capacity since the end of last month. Hungarian officials have begun constructing a submerged wall—or weir—and positioning two 80-meter barges to be sunk, if necessary, to artificially raise the water level near the plant’s intake pipes.
As these nations struggle to maintain power, the energy ministries have issued urgent appeals to the public to practice responsible consumption. Large-scale industrial consumers in Romania have been warned that, as a final contingency measure, they may face mandatory electricity usage restrictions during peak evening hours. The current situation highlights the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructure to the changing climate and extreme weather events.
The impact of the Danube’s record-low levels extends well beyond the energy sector. As Europe’s second-longest river, the Danube is a vital artery for international shipping, stretching over 2,850 kilometers from western Germany to the Black Sea. The drastic drop in water depth has severely hampered commercial navigation, disrupting supply chains and logistics for industries that rely on the river for transporting raw materials and finished goods.