Danube engineering improves cooling-water conditions
Emergency engineering works on the Danube have improved cooling-water conditions at Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear power plant, providing additional time for its remaining operating unit before a possible precautionary shutdown. The intervention is linked to temporary relief for the plant’s cooling-water supply system, as river conditions affect intake performance.
The Romanian Naval Forces carried out the controlled demolition of a rock formation on 3 August, removing an obstruction that restricted river flow towards the plant’s intake. The operation raised the water level at the cooling-water inlet by approximately two centimetres and stopped the recent decline.
Unit 2 operating outlook and planned follow-up measures
Plant operator Nuclearelectrica now expects Unit 2 to remain online for at least another week. Earlier projections indicated that cooling-water limitations could force the reactor to stop within five days.
Authorities are preparing a further intervention in which vessels carrying stone would be sunk in one branch of the Danube to redirect more water towards the channel supplying the plant. The measure is intended to preserve sufficient depth at the intake rather than change the nuclear installation itself.
Power balance, imports and exports during tight demand
Keeping 680MW Unit 2 online is described as critical for Romania’s electricity balance. Evening demand has recently reached approximately 7,000–7,500MW, while imports have covered close to one-third of national consumption during the tightest hours.
Romania has continued supplying neighbouring Moldova, with exports reaching approximately 500MW during the latest evening peak. The combination of high domestic imports and continued exports reflects an interconnected emergency response in which Romania manages its own generation shortfall while supporting a system with limited supply options.
Temporary nature of relief and demand restriction framework
The improvement remains temporary because Danube levels are exceptionally low. Nuclearelectrica has warned that Unit 2 will be shut down if cooling-water conditions move outside prescribed operating limits. Such a decision would be precautionary and would not indicate a nuclear-safety incident, but it would remove a major source of stable baseload electricity.
The government is preparing a framework for temporary demand restrictions on large industrial consumers. Companies would receive 24 hours’ notice, with permitted consumption set by the National Energy Dispatcher based on available generation and individual production processes. Mandatory restrictions would be applied only after voluntary demand reductions proved insufficient.
