Romania began shutting down its only remaining operating nuclear reactor as record-low water levels on the Danube have forced nuclear power shutdowns in central and eastern Europe in recent weeks. Nuclearelectrica has launched the process to disconnect the one operating reactor at Romania’s only nuclear plant at Cernavoda on the Danube, the Romanian state-owned nuclear power plant operator said.
Scorching temperatures and drought in Europe this summer have caused the Danube's water levels to drop to the lowest in 90 years, leading to the shutdown of nuclear reactors.
Cernavoda’s two 706-MW reactors typically generate about a fifth of Romania’s electricity. To offset the loss of both reactors, the country has switched on a 330-MW coal-fired power plant.
We do not foresee a restart within the next ten days,” the director of the Cernavoda plant, Romeo Urjan, told AFP today.
