Romania’s Only Nuclear Power Plant Again at Risk of Complete Shutdown Due to Danube Shallowing

Romania's Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant will almost inevitably have to be completely shut down in the next two days due to the worsening water situation on the Danube. Sorin Rindașu, deputy director general of the national administration "Romanian Waters", said this on Tuesday, Digi24 reports, according to Європейська правда.

The official said that the water level in the Danube near the plant has dropped again to a critical minimum and that in the next 1–2 days the still-operating second reactor of the plant will have to be shut down.

According to him, "all available data" point to the fact that this time it will not be possible to avoid such a step.

"I have never seen such indicators. It is absolutely obvious that the nuclear power plant will be shut down soon", Sorin Rindașu said, adding that he does not believe in the chances of changing anything with additional engineering measures.

According to him, the forced shutdown of the plant could last at least two weeks – until then there are no signs that the water level will start to rise. Forecasts predict no significant rainfall in the Danube basin in the next five days, not even in Austria.

This is a new negative turn after the recent announcement that a shutdown of the plant was avoided at least for the near future.

State secretary in the Romanian Ministry of Energy, Cristian Bușoi, says that the unfinished engineering works as part of efforts to "rescue" the plant will continue anyway, because this gives chances for a faster restart of the plant after the water situation on the river improves.

As a reminder, in an attempt to raise the water level in the Danube near the plant, Romania resorted to engineering measures – blasting a rock and submerging barges filled with stones.

Hungary's only nuclear power plant also found itself in a similar situation.