Unit 2 of Romania's Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant shut down for at least 10 days due to falling Danube River water levels

Romeo Urjan, head of Romania's Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, said that due to the continuous decline of Danube River water levels, Unit 2 of the plant has been shut down since August 13 for at least 10 days.

Romania's Ministry of Energy stated on August 12 that Unit 2 of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant required a temporary shutdown. As planned, the shutdown operation began on the morning of August 13 and was completed before noon that day.

Urjan stated that Danube River water levels are expected to continue declining over the next 10 days, so the plant currently has no plans to restart Unit 2. He emphasized that this shutdown is unrelated to nuclear safety issues or emergencies, with the main cause being drought-induced restrictions on water intake conditions, which affect the unit's power generation. Once conditions permit, the plant will arrange a restart, expected to take one to two days to return to maximum power output.

Romania's Ministry of Energy stated that the shutdown of Unit 2 will not affect power supply to residents or the operation of residential utility systems.

Previously, Romania's power generation capacity had declined due to drought and falling Danube River water levels. On July 31, the Romanian government declared a state of alert in the energy sector. On August 8, Romania implemented an emergency operation by sinking four fully loaded barges into the Danube River to raise local water levels and increase water intake for cooling nuclear units.

The Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant is Romania's only operational nuclear power plant, with two nuclear reactors, normally supplying approximately 20% of the country's electricity.