Romanian nuclear power plant prepares to shut down its second power unit due to the low water level of the Danube — media

Romania’s Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant has begun technical preparations for the controlled shutdown of its second reactor unit due to the extremely low water level in the Danube. Romania’s Ministry of Energy said this was a preventive measure, and that the shortfall in electricity generation would be offset through imports and other domestic sources, UNN reports, citing G4Media and Newsmaker.

Details

According to the publication, the second reactor unit could be shut down as early as this week if forecasts for the Danube’s water level remain unfavorable.

Nuclearelectrica has also invoked force majeure under its electricity sales contracts due to severe hydrological drought and insufficient water levels for cooling the nuclear power plant.

The Romanian authorities assured that they had prepared measures to maintain the stability of the power system. These include importing electricity and using additional domestic generating capacity.

In addition

The Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant uses Danube water in its cooling systems. As Euronews România writes, the decline in the river’s level to critical levels is making it increasingly difficult to keep the plant operating.

If the second reactor unit is disconnected from the national power grid, Romania will temporarily be left without nuclear power generation, as the first reactor unit is also currently not operating.

At the same time, the authorities are trying to maintain the balance of the power system through additional domestic generation and imports. Work is also continuing on the Danube to create conditions for the possible restart of the second reactor unit when the hydrological situation allows it.

According to the director of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, the second reactor unit is currently generating approximately 680 MW of electricity.

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We remind you

Romania’s Ministry of Defense reported controlled explosions on the river aimed at increasing the flow of the Danube and ensuring the operation of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (Cernavoda).

Context

Data from Romania’s National Administration of Waters show that the flow at the country’s entry point reached 1,600 cubic meters per second on Sunday, with a downward trend to 1,450 cubic meters per second by the end of the week.

In Hungary, this situation even led to the shutdown of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, which had operated for more than 40 years, due to a lack of water for cooling.

The decline in the Danube’s water level poses a serious threat to energy generation in Romania, particularly to the operation of Unit No. 2 of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, currently the only operating unit. The government analyzed several technical solutions, including the construction of diversion dams to redirect some of the water to the Old Danube and, indirectly, to the reactor area.