Falling Danube flow forces shutdown of Romania’s sole nuclear plant

Romania has paused operations at its sole nuclear plant due to record-low water levels in the Danube River, which provides cooling water for its reactors.

The country’s national nuclear energy company, Nuclearelectrica, said on Thursday it would begin a controlled shutdown of the second reactor at the Cernavoda plant, after shutting down the facility’s other reactor last month.

The closure comes as a severe drought grips large parts of Europe, causing flow rates in nearly two-thirds of the Danube to hit their lowest in over three decades, according to an analysis by the European climate change observatory Copernicus.

The Cernavoda plant’s director, Romeo Urjan, told the AFP news agency he did not expect the plant to restart operations “within the next 10 days”.

Romania had been trying to avert a complete shutdown of the plant, which usually generates a fifth of Romania’s electricity.

It had budgeted more than 2 million euros ($2.3m) to try to divert the Danube’s flow to maintain cooling of the reactors, including blowing up a large rock that was restricting the flow of water and sinking four barges filled with rocks into the river.

Alternative power sources, including wind power and electricity imports, are expected to ensure adequate supplies, the Ministry of Energy said on Wednesday.

But it also reiterated an appeal for “responsible consumption”.

It has warned that as a last resort, large industrial consumers would have to face restrictions on consumption during evening hours to save electricity.

Neighbouring Hungary has so far been able to avoid a complete shutdown of its only nuclear plant, in Paks, whose four reactors are also cooled by the Danube.

But with the river depth expected to drop further, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Wednesday the government had ordered the construction of a submerged wall, or weir, to try to control flows near the plant.

Two 80-metre barges are also being stationed at Paks that could be sunk to raise the water level.

Paks, whose output usually covers about a third of Hungary’s electricity needs, has been partially shut down since late last month.

The low levels of the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, have also severely impacted shipping along its 2,850km (1,770-mile) route stretching from western Germany to its mouth on the Black Sea.