Romania’s sole nuclear power plant prepares for shut down due to low Danube flow

11 August 2026 Romania’s Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant has initiated the technical procedures preceding the controlled shutdown of its second nuclear reactor, the so-called Unit 2, due to the very low flow of the Danube. The river water was essential for the cooling of the pumps used by the plant. The shutdown of Unit 2, scheduled for Thursday, August 13, represents the complete closure of the facility in Cernavodă. The nuclear power plant, operated by Bucharest Exchange-listed company Nuclearelectrica (BVB: SNN), shut down Unit 1 in late July for the same reason, as drought persists in the Danube basin. Sorin Rândașu, deputy general manager of Romanian Waters, said that the critical threshold of -230 cm water level had been reached at Cernavodă. “In the coming period, the plant will be sh