Romania is expected to remain without output from the Cernavoda nuclear plant into October as low Danube levels continue to restrict cooling conditions, increasing dependence on imports during a tight regional power market.
Cernavoda’s two CANDU reactors normally cover around 20% of Romanian electricity consumption, making the prolonged loss of baseload generation significant for both Romania and neighbouring markets.
Low water levels remain insufficient for parts of the plant’s cooling infrastructure. Although CANDU reactors use heavy water in their nuclear systems, the conventional turbine side depends on Danube water for cooling.
Generation cannot resume until minimum operating conditions are restored.
The outage has already contributed to tighter Romanian electricity balances and stronger import demand, increasing the importance of cross-border availability during periods of high consumption or weak renewable generation.
The episode also highlights a longer-term issue for southeastern Europe’s nuclear ambitions: river conditions and cooling-system design are becoming more important operational considerations as drought risk increases.
