Emergency engineering works on the Danube have improved cooling-water conditions at Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear power plant, giving its remaining operating reactor additional time before a possible precautionary shutdown.
The Romanian Naval Forces carried out the controlled demolition of a rock formation on 3 August, removing an obstruction that restricted river flow towards the plant’s intake. The intervention raised the water level at the cooling-water inlet by approximately two centimetres and stopped the recent decline.
Plant operator Nuclearelectrica now expects Unit 2 to remain online for at least another week. Earlier projections suggested that cooling-water limitations could force the reactor to stop within five days.
Authorities are preparing a further intervention under which vessels carrying stone would be sunk in one branch of the Danube to redirect more water towards the channel supplying the plant. The measure is intended to preserve sufficient depth at the intake rather than alter the nuclear installation itself.
Keeping the 680MW Unit 2 online is critical for Romania’s electricity balance. Evening demand has recently reached approximately 7,000–7,500MW, while imports have covered close to one-third of national consumption during the tightest hours.
Romania has simultaneously continued supplying neighbouring Moldova, with exports reaching approximately 500MW during the latest evening peak. The combination of high domestic imports and continued exports illustrates the interconnected nature of the emergency: Romania is managing its own generation shortfall while supporting a neighbouring system with even more limited supply options.
The improvement remains temporary. Danube levels are exceptionally low, and Nuclearelectrica has warned that Unit 2 will be shut down if the cooling-water conditions move outside prescribed operating limits. Such a decision would be precautionary and would not indicate a nuclear-safety incident, but it would remove a major source of stable baseload electricity.
The government is consequently preparing a framework for temporary demand restrictions on large industrial consumers. Companies would receive 24 hours’ notice, with permitted consumption determined by the National Energy Dispatcher according to available generation and individual production processes. Mandatory restrictions would be used only after voluntary demand reductions proved insufficient.
