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, increasing reliance on cross-border electricity supply.
Cernavoda has two CANDU reactors that normally cover around 20% of Romanian electricity consumption. The continued loss of baseload generation is therefore significant for Romania and neighbouring markets. The impact is reflected in tighter system balances and higher demand for imported power.
Cooling constraints linked to Danube water availability
Low water levels are reported as 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. Until those conditions are met, the plant remains unable to restart its electricity output.
Import demand rises as balances tighten
The outage has already contributed to tighter Romanian electricity balances and stronger import demand. Cross-border availability becomes more important during periods of high consumption or weak renewable generation.
The situation also points to a longer-term operational consideration for southeastern Europe’s nuclear ambitions. River conditions and cooling-system design are becoming more important as drought risk increases across the region.
