Romania rushes to sink 4 barges in the Danube to keep a nuclear power plant’s second reactor running
Emergency works aim to keep Cernavoda’s second reactor running as Danube flow falls to 1,400 cubic meters per second, officials said.
- On Thursday, Romania began sinking four barges laden with rock into the Danube River to redirect water downstream toward the Cernavoda nuclear plant, attempting to delay shutdown of its second reactor amid record-low water levels.
- Extreme heatwaves and low rainfall left the Danube at record lows this week, with water flow reaching just 1,400 cubic meters per second, forcing one reactor offline last week; Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared a nationwide energy alert July 31.
- Plant director Romeo Urjan said Thursday the Danube water level dropped about two centimeters from Wednesday, and without the barges the second reactor would likely shut down in five to six days; with them, operations could extend to nine to 10 days.
- Bolojan appealed Thursday to citizens and local authorities to voluntarily limit electricity during peak hours, warning Romania could face energy shortfalls if Cernavoda goes completely offline and energy cannot be imported from neighboring countries amid their own shutdowns.
- Hungary's sole nuclear plant faces historic shutdown risk from low Danube levels, while Moldova, dependent on Romanian electricity imports, has urged citizens to reduce peak-hour consumption as the regional drought threatens power generation across Central Europe.
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In Europe, the low water level of the Danube River due to the drought forced the closure of a reactor of a nuclear power plant built by Canada in Romania in the early 1990s. What are the impacts of this forced closure on the future of nuclear energy, which benefits from a backwind, and on Canadian Candu technology in particular? La Presse discussed this with Guy Marleau, Associate Professor at Polytechnique Montréal.
Romania delays the closure of coal power stations due to drought. The Romanian Parliament has decided to temporarily stop the planned ‘pagón’ after suffering a drastic collapse in the Danube basin, which is the source of the country’s hydroelectric plants. The low level of the riverbed has forced a nuclear reactor to be shut down in Cernavoda due to a lack of cooling, triggering a severe crossroads that threatens full national electricity stabil…
Romania postponed to Friday the plan to sink four vessels loaded with stones in the Danube River, claiming unsafe conditions. The decision takes place while increasing the race to divert water from the river, affected by the drought, to the only nuclear reactor in the country in operation and gain a few more days of operation in the midst of a shortage of electricity.
Dnevni list Danas
n1info.rsRomania sank four stone-laden barges in the Danube today to divert the river's flow towards a nuclear power plant, before parts of it are likely to have to shut down due to the river's record low water levels.
"Dunning, dustless road" - it is no longer current, the white river being in many places a cemetery of small wrecks, sand dunes and stones. The Director in the ANAR, about measures to increase the flow of the Danube: "God helps! – appears first in Romania TV.
Romania delays effort to divert Danube water to nuclear reactor as shutdown looms
Romania delayed plans to sink four rock-filled barges into the Danube until Friday citing unsafe conditions, as the race tightens to divert water from the drought-hit river to its only working nuclear reactor and buy a few more days of operation amid low electricity supplies. Record low water levels on the Danube, used to cool […]
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