Romania is expected to remain without output from the Cernavoda nuclear plant into October as low Danube levels continue to restrict cooling conditions. The prolonged outage is occurring during a tight regional power market, with increased reliance on cross-border electricity supplies.
Cernavoda’s two CANDU reactors normally cover around 20% of Romanian electricity consumption. With baseload generation unavailable for an extended period, the impact extends to both Romania and neighbouring markets.
Cooling constraints tied to Danube water availability
Low water levels are reported to be insufficient for parts of the plant’s cooling infrastructure. While the 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.
Implications for Romanian balances and import demand
The outage has already contributed to tighter Romanian electricity balances and stronger import demand. That shift increases the importance of cross-border availability during periods of high consumption or weak renewable generation. River and cooling constraints remain central to operational limits as the situation continues.
Drought risk and cooling-system design in southeastern Europe
The episode also highlights a longer-term issue for southeastern Europe’s nuclear ambitions related to river conditions and cooling-system design. As drought risk increases, these factors are becoming more important operational considerations for nuclear facilities in the region.
