Romania is expected to remain without output from the Cernavoda nuclear plant into October, with low Danube levels restricting cooling conditions. The prolonged outage is occurring during a tight regional power market, where import dependence is increasing. The plant’s two CANDU reactors normally cover around 20% of Romanian electricity consumption.
Cooling constraints linked to low Danube water
Low water levels are reported to be insufficient for parts of the plant’s cooling infrastructure. While 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.
Impact on Romanian balances and cross-border power flows
The outage has already contributed to tighter Romanian electricity balances and stronger import demand. Cross-border availability has become more important during periods of high consumption or weak renewable generation. In that context, the continued loss of baseload generation from Cernavoda is significant for both Romania and neighbouring markets.
River conditions as a factor for regional nuclear operations
The episode also points to a longer-term operational issue for southeastern Europe’s nuclear ambitions, where river conditions and cooling-system design are becoming more important. Drought risk is increasing, raising the relevance of water availability for cooling requirements. These constraints are expected to remain a key consideration as conditions affecting river flows persist.
