Archive · 13 Aug 2026
Romania shuts only nuclear plant as Danube hits record low
In Romania, there is a big nuclear power plant that makes electricity.
The plant needs lots of water from the Danube River to stay cool.
This summer it has been very hot across Europe, and there has been very little rain.
Because of that, the Danube River got very low, lower than ever recorded.
The water was too low to cool the power plant properly.
One part of the plant was stopped last month.
Then, on 13 August 2026, workers began stopping the second part too.
This is the first time the whole plant has been turned off since a drought in 2003.
Romania says wind power and electricity bought from other countries will help make up for the missing electricity.
Scientists say climate change made this drought worse.
Nuclearelectrica began the controlled shutdown of Unit 2 at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant on the morning of 13 August 2026.
Unit 1 at the plant had already been shut down the previous month; the facility normally produces about a fifth of Romania's electricity.
The shutdown came after water levels in the Danube River, used to cool the plant, fell to a record low.
Authorities had tried to prevent the shutdown by blasting a rock and sinking four barges loaded with rocks to redirect the river, at a cost of more than €2 million ($2.3 million).
It is the first full shutdown of the plant since a drought in 2003, and Romania's Energy Ministry expects wind power and electricity imports to cover the shortfall.
- Who
- Nuclearelectrica, Romania's national nuclear energy company, and Romania's Energy Ministry
- What
- Fully shut down the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant after Danube River cooling-water levels hit a record low
- When
- Unit 2 shutdown began on the morning of 13 August 2026; Unit 1 was shut down the previous month
- Where
- Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, on the Danube River in Romania
- Why
- Record-low Danube water levels caused by a severe drought, heatwaves and a lack of rainfall across Europe, worsened by human-induced climate change
- Power plant
- Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, Romania's only nuclear plant
- Operator
- Nuclearelectrica SA
- Reactors
- Two 700-megawatt units (Unit 1 and Unit 2)
- Electricity share
- About one-fifth of Romania's total electricity
- Shutdown date
- Morning of 13 August 2026 (Unit 2); Unit 1 shut down the previous month
- River-saving measures
- Rock blasting and sinking four barges loaded with rocks, costing over €2 million ($2.3 million)
- Previous full shutdown
- 2003 drought, when the plant stayed closed for several weeks
- Danube flow in July
- Nearly two-thirds of the river recorded its lowest July flow in 34 years, per Copernicus