Romania Sinks Four Rock-Filled Barges To Keep Cernavodă Nuclear Plant Second Reactor Running

Romania rushes to sink 4 barges in the Danube to keep a nuclear power plant’s second reactor running Romania rushes to sink 4 barges in the Danube to keep a nuclear power plant’s second reactor running BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania raced on Thursday to sink four barges laden with rock into the Danube River in an attempt to redirect water downstream toward a nuclear power plant, to buy more time before its second reactor is likely forced offline due to record-low water levels. Extreme heatwaves and low rainfall across the region have left the Danube at record lows over the past week, forcing the shutdown of a reactor at Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear plant last week. The state-owned nuclear power plant accounts for about 20% of the country’s electricity generation when fully operational and uses river water to cool its reactors. The four barges were loaded with rock that Romania’s military blasted from the river this week using explosives near the Danube’s Bala Canal. Once submerged, the barges will create an underwater barrier to redirect the water down the river’s main channel and toward the Cernavoda plant. Speaking to local news channel Digi24, the plant’s director Romeo Urjan said Thursday the Danube’s water level had decreased about two centimeters (0.7 inches) from Wednesday to Thursday and that, without sinking the barges, the plant’s second reactor would likely have to be shut down in five to six days. “If the installed barges bring surplus water ... instead of five to six days, we will talk about nine to 10 days of operation from today onward,” he said. He added that the impact of the barges being submerged could take about a day to reach Cernavoda, since it’s located around 60 kilometers (37 miles) downstream. Authorities have implemented a series of emergency measures since the first reactor shut down, including dredging of the river. The Danube’s water flow has fallen to its lowest in decades this week at 1,400 cubic meters per second in Romania, less than a third of what is typical for this time of year. Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced a nationwide state of alert in the energy sector on Jul. 31. He appealed to citizens and local authorities again on Thursday to voluntarily limit electricity usage in peak evening hours, and said that the sinking of the barges would likely last till Friday. Bolojan said after a government meeting that the works carried out so far aim to maintain a flow even if the Danube levels are forecast to be low, focusing on maintaining water flowing so that the second reactor can operate “at maximum capacity.” He added that Romania could face potential energy shortfalls if the Cernavoda plant is taken completely offline, adding that it could depend on whether energy could be imported during peak evening hours from neighboring countries, many of which are dealing with their own shutdowns amid the drought. In neighboring Hungary, the Danube’s record-low levels have pushed the country’s only nuclear power plant to the brink of powering down entirely for the first time in decades. In Moldova, which relies heavily on imported electricity, including from Romania, the authorities have urged citizens to voluntarily reduce usage during peak hours. — McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

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 reactor turbines, have already forced the shutdown of one reactor, and authorities have taken unprecedented measures to keep the country's only other reactor running, including detonating a rock obstruction earlier this week. Romania's government has prepared a system to cut power for industrial consumers in stages and with prior notice if needed, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said on Thursday, adding no such cuts were expected for the next five-seven days or as long as the nuclear reactor kept running. The two reactors at Cernavoda, operated by Romania's Nuclearelectrica, account for a fifth of the country's electricity production. Hydropower plants are also suffering from the drought, and energy imports are limited by similar conditions in neighbouring countries. The blast and riverbed dredging bought some time, but a Nuclearelectrica executive said the company could shut the remaining reactor in five to six days unless the sunken barges work. "If the barges generate a water surplus this deadline extends to nine to 10 days," Romeo Urjan, the plant's director, told private television station Digi24. The Danube's flow in Romania fell to an all-time low on Thursday of 1,400 cubic metres per second, about a third of its usual August average. Romania's Cernavoda nuclear plant and Hungary's Paks plant both use Danube waters for cooling, forcing Bucharest and Budapest alike to increase their power imports and urge households and businesses to reduce consumption. Romania's state water management agency had initially planned to begin controlled submersion of the four barges one at a time on Thursday, aiming to establish a barrier and redirect water from a river branch toward the plant. Urjan said the impact would be felt a day later. "That is an extraordinary response, but it should not be mistaken for an energy strategy," ING Bank said of the Danube works in a note. "Blasting rock out of a riverbed may keep a reactor operating for a few more days, but it does not create new generation capacity, reinforce cross-border interconnections or accelerate storage deployment." EU member Romania relies on a mix of gas, coal, hydro, nuclear and renewables for electricity generation but needs billions of euros in investment to replace ageing facilities and boost battery storage and grid interconnections. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie, editing by Andrei Khalip and Susan Fenton)

Romania will sink four barges in the Danube near the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant in an effort to raise the river's water level, which is critical for the safe operation of the facility, Digi24 reports. The reportsaidthe barges, loaded with rocks, are scheduled to be sunk on Wednesday, August 5, as part of efforts to increase the water level near the plant. Earlier engineering works, including blasting rock to alter the riverbed, succeeded in raising the water level by 2 centimetres. Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruță previously said that every additional day of operation at the nuclear power plant was "financially three times more beneficial" than the cost of the measures. One reactor at the Cernavodă plant has already been shut down, reducing Romania's electricity generation capacity by around 10%. A second reactor is now at risk of being taken offline. Hungary's only nuclear power plant is also facing a similar threat. However, Prime Minister Péter Magyar claimed on Tuesday that the river level had risen by 1.5 centimetres. Falling water levels in the Dniester River, combined with electricity supply concerns in neighbouring countries, have also increased the risk of power shortages in Moldova. By Bakhtiyar Abbasov

As the Danube River breaks new record lows across much of its nearly 1,800-mile stretch through eastern Europe, curiosities of the past — including in Bulgaria, sunken Nazi warships in Serbia and unexploded WWII artillery in Hungary's capital — are emerging. But there's also an energy crisis unfolding for Hungary's nearly 10 million people.The country's only nuclear power plant, known as Paks, is on the brink of completely shutting down. As of Wednesday morning, three of the plant's four reactors are not in operation, while one continues to operate at approximately 50% power. On normal days, the 44-year-old Soviet-designed facility, which sits on the Danube about 60 miles south of Budapest, generates roughly 50% of the country's electricity. But with a drought across southeast Europe now more than three months in, these are not normal days. Unlike nuclear plants in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France — many of which sit on smaller rivers and rely on giant hourglass-shaped cooling towers to recirculate water — Paks was built to suck water in directly from the Danube, a river long assumed too mighty to run dry. Approaching the plant, there are no telltale dumb-bell silhouettes on the horizon signaling its presence. "Several factors will determine whether Hungary's most important power plant can avoid a complete shutdown in the coming days," said Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, visiting the site Tuesday, attempting to balance reality while projecting optimism. Just three months into office after his Tisza party ended Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule in a landslide election this spring, Magyar has called on all Hungarians to unite to conserve power. Hardly any precipitation is forecast for at least the next 10 days and the Danube's water levels are expected to slip even lower. "There are a few critical days left. Today and tomorrow are certainly that," Magyar said. "I ask everyone to continue the national unity that has developed in the country. Let's do what our country demands." Magyar noted there is "light at the end of the tunnel," as forecasters predict a cold front moving in on Friday. The temperature in Budapest Wednesday and Thursday was expected to be above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The anxiety over Paks, Hungary's most critical piece of infrastructure, is the first real test of Magyar's young government. This week, more than 300 government-linked buildings in Budapest have been ordered to turn off their lights, with the romantic spotlights on popular tourist hotspots like Buda Castle and the Chain Bridge staying dark after the late-summer sunsets. To offset the loss of power generation, Hungary has nearly doubled its electricity imports from neighboring countries via the region's power grid, news site Euractiv reported. Hungary's electricity network is among Europe's most interconnected, letting the country easily buy power from its neighbors. Costs have not hit consumers yet as the new government absorbs the difference for now. "The electricity market is stable, and supply is problem-free," the government said, while urging households to avoid running washing machines and tumble dryers between 5 and 10 p.m. to ease pressure on the grid. Europe is , warming more than twice as fast as the global average, according to Copernicus, the European Union's Earth observation and climate monitoring group.The continent has warmed by around 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit compared to pre-industrial levels, with the fastest warming areas in eastern and parts of central Europe, as well as the European Arctic.

The drought in Europe is so severe that it is jeopardizing countries' economic growth and forcing them to take extreme measures like blowing up riverbeds. Gripped by a summer of weather extremes, Romania recently shut down its sole working nuclear reactor cooled by the Danube for the first time, with Bucharest even deploying naval forces to carry out underwater detonations to improve water flow. Images published Monday showed the Romanian navy blasting rocks in controlled explosions in Izvoarele village as part of a push to divert a higher volume of water toward the cooling systems of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant. Low water levels on the Danube have also threatened to close Hungary's Paks nuclear plant, which supplies around 40% of the country's electricity, and forced Serbia to cut hydropower generation. In Germany, the water levels on the Rhine River, a crucial waterway in Europe's economic heartland, have fallen to their lowest levels in nearly 150 years, posing a risk to the German economy and further disrupting supply chains. The water level at Kaub, a key choke point for vessels transiting to southern Germany and Switzerland, fell to 24 centimeters on Monday and Tuesday, reflecting its lowest level since records began in 1880, with forecasts of even lower levels toward the end of this week, according to official data compiled by ETH Zurich. That's far below the critical level of 78 centimeters at the Kaub gauge for navigation on the Rhine. Transport is still possible below this threshold, but cargo barges must be less heavily loaded, and freight transport costs and low-water surcharges rise sharply. "Major rivers like the Rhine and Danube are critical trade corridors and sources of water for industry and energy generation, so when water levels fall, the effects extend far beyond the waterways themselves," Liz Saccoccia, water security lead at the World Resources Institute, told CNBC by email. "We're already seeing that happen. Nuclear plants in Hungary, Romania and France, along with hydropower facilities in Serbia, have already had to reduce electricity generation because there isn't enough water for cooling or driving turbines, increasing the risk of blackouts and costly electricity imports," Saccoccia said. "Along the Danube, low water levels have prevented farmers from shipping their crops and stopped cruise ships from reaching ports such as Budapest. These are early examples of how increasingly unreliable water supplies can ripple through the economy, affecting trade, energy security, supply chains and local businesses," she added. The issue shines a light on a critically important environmental issue: water scarcity. The issue is especially acute across southern Europe, where around 30% of the population is known to be situated in areas with permanent water stress: when water demand exceeds the available supply. In economic terms, the effects of low water levels on the Rhine could be enough to dampen German gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 0.2 percent in the third quarter, according to Stefan Kooths, professor of economics at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW). "Since water levels are unlikely to rise sharply back above the critical threshold in early August, transport capacity is likely to remain affected by the low water levels for some time in the coming month as well," Kooths told CNBC by email. "The loss in value added can be roughly estimated at 1 to 2 billion euros ($1.15 billion to $2.3 billion) in the third quarter," he added. Felix Schmidt, senior economist at the private German bank Berenberg, said companies in Europe's traditional growth engine had likely not been caught by surprise by the Rhine's low water levels because climate change means this has become a recurring challenge. Businesses have prepared by either stocking up on inventories or diverting the transport of some goods via rail or road, although Schmidt acknowledged that freight rates were currently going "through the roof," exacerbating inflationary worries. "Given that Germany is growing very little, obviously, if we grow 0.1 instead of 0.2 then this means we lose half of the growth, if you want to frame it like that," Schmidt told CNBC in a phone interview. The German economy expanded by 0.2% in the second quarter, compared to the previous three-month period. That followed an upwardly revised 0.4% quarter-on-quarter increase in the first quarter. Schmidt described drying rivers as just one expression of Germany's economic struggle amid the intensifying climate crisis. "Water levels are obviously one thing but we had this heat wave in Germany a couple of weeks back, impacting big parts of northern Europe, which brings down productivity. You have infrastructure which gets destroyed by the heat. You have energy supply, which is affected, like the nuclear plants being shut down in Hungary, France and Switzerland," Schmidt said. "You also have the catastrophic development like the fires sweeping now in southern Europe … So, it's affecting the economy in many, many ways," he added.

As the Danube's flow hits historic lows, Romania sinks rock-laden barges to preserve cooling water for Cernavodă's second reactor, following the shutdown of the first, while securing regional electricity imports. Romania is racing against time on the Danube to keep the second reactor at its Cernavodă nuclear plant running, following the earlier shutdown of the first unit. The river's flow has been described by Romanian authorities as historically low, the result of prolonged drought combined with heat waves across the entire Danube basin. This hydrological crisis comes as Europe's nuclear sector undergoes governance shifts elsewhere, as in Poland, whereBechtel becomes site administrator for the Polish nuclear plant and enlists Budimex. In the United States,the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rules on EPA's climate grant termination, illustrating the regulatory tensions running through the low-carbon energy sector. Cernavodă's first reactor was shut down in a controlled manner after an official notification from the operator, based on unfavorable hydrological forecasts. The second reactor, whose shutdown had initially been expected within a very short timeframe, has been kept in service through successive emergency measures, even though its operation is still described as unstable by authorities themselves. The mechanism at the heart of the crisis lies in the river's configuration upstream of the site: the Danube splits into two arms there, with the one known as the "Old Danube" feeding the intake basin that cools the reactors, while the Bala arm captures most of the available flow during drought periods. To rebalance this flow, authorities first blasted a rock formation that was directing the current toward the Bala arm, before undertaking the immersion of rock-laden barges to create a submerged sill. This sill is designed to slow the flow on the Bala arm and push a larger share of the river's discharge toward the plant's supply basin. The immersion operation, launched on Thursday, August 6, 2026, involves four barges loaded with rock in the Bala arm. According to Romeo Urjan, director of the Cernavodă nuclear plant, the situation has been closely monitored since late July, with estimates of the remaining margin shifting day to day depending on the observed drop in water level. Ana Maria Agiu, spokesperson for national water authority Apele Române, says any communicated deadline should be treated as provisional rather than fixed. The plant's operator, SN Nuclearelectrica SA, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, has not communicated a new shutdown date at this stage. The Cernavodă plant accounts for a significant share — though variably quantified depending on the source and reference year — of Romania's national electricity output. This importance explains the mobilization of several ministries, the army and the national grid operator around this single site. The Romanian government, led by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, has called on households and businesses to limit their consumption during evening peak hours. Authorities are simultaneously working to secure electricity imports from neighboring countries. This regional dimension is echoed in Hungary and Moldova, two countries facing similar strains on their energy infrastructure. Hungary's Paks nuclear plant, which also supplies a significant share of the country's electricity, is experiencing a situation being monitored by Prime Minister Péter Magyar. The exact scale of the difficulties at Paks has not been specified at this stage. The Danube crisis highlights the shared dependence of several nuclear plants across Central and Eastern Europe on a single river basin now under growing hydrological pressure.

According to Péter Magyar, the water level has already climbed several centimetres above the critical threshold. Hungary's Prime Minister Péter Magyar says he is optimistic that the Paks nuclear power station will be able to restart soon as water levels on the Danube slowly rise. Hungary shut down its sole nuclear power plant, which relies on the waters of the Danube for cooling, on Sunday because of low water levels. The waters of the Danube, Europe's second longest river, have dropped in parts to a record low due to successive heatwaves that have parched the continent since May. "The good news is that we are now nine centimetres above the Danube’s Sunday low, and rain is expected over the Austrian catchment areas. The turbine at Paks is operating. Even so, on today’s scorching day we will still very much need people to cut their consumption voluntarily," Magyar wrote in a post on X on Thursday. On Tuesday, the prime minister visited the nuclear power plant to be briefed on the situation and said conditions at Paks had stabilised once the Danube’s water level stopped falling below the critical threshold and then began to rise slowly. By Tuesday evening the water level was already five centimetres higher than in the morning. By Wednesday morning it had risen by a further centimetre, with an 8 AM reading of -134 centimetres and by Thursday morning it was -131 centimetres. As the water level is rising, in principle there is no need to switch off the last turbine. However, it will take time before the units that have already been shut down can be restarted. For the plant to return to normal operation, the water level will also have to remain consistently higher than it is now. At Budapest, the Danube is already 14 centimetres higher than last Sunday’s low, according to data from the water management authority. The capital also broke its absolute temperature record on Wednesday, with 41.1C measured in Újpest. Since records began it has never been this hot in Budapest and the previous record of 41C was only set in June this year.

BUCHAREST, Aug 6 (Reuters) - 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 reactor turbines, have already forced the shutdown of one reactor, and authorities have taken unprecedented measures to keep the country's only other reactor running, including detonating a rock obstruction earlier this week. Sign up here. Romania's government has prepared a system to cut power for industrial consumers in stages and with prior notice if needed, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said on Thursday, adding no such cuts were expected for the next 5-7 days or as long as the nuclear reactor kept running. The two reactors at Cernavoda, operated by Romania's Nuclearelectrica (ROSNN.BX), account for a fifth of the country's electricity production. Hydropower plants are also suffering from the drought, and energy imports are limited by similar conditions in neighbouring countries. The blast and riverbed dredging bought some time, but a Nuclearelectrica executive said the company could shut the remaining reactor in five to six days unless the sunken barges work. "If the barges generate a water surplus this deadline extends to nine to 10 days," Romeo Urjan, the plant's director, told private television station Digi24. The Danube's flow in Romania fell to an all-time low on Thursday of 1,400 cubic metres per second, about a third of its usual August average. Romania's Cernavoda nuclear plant and Hungary's Paks plant both use Danube waters for cooling, forcing Bucharest and Budapest alike to increase their power imports and urge households and businesses to reduce consumption. Romania's state water management agency had initially planned to begin controlled submersion of the four barges one at a time on Thursday, aiming to establish a barrier and redirect water from a river branch toward the plant. Urjan said the impact would be felt a day later. "That is an extraordinary response, but it should not be mistaken for an energy strategy," ING Bank said of the Danube works in a note. "Blasting rock out of a riverbed may keep a reactor operating for a few more days, but it does not create new generation capacity, reinforce cross-border interconnections or accelerate storage deployment." EU member Romania relies on a mix of gas, coal, hydro, nuclear and renewables for electricity generation but needs billions of euros in investment to replace ageing facilities and boost battery storage and grid interconnections. Reporting by Luiza Ilie, editing by Andrei Khalip and Susan Fenton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Romania raced on Thursday to sink four barges laden with rock into the Danube River in an attempt to redirect water downstream toward a nuclear power plant, to buy more time before its second reactor is likely forced offline due to record-low water levels. Extreme heatwaves and low rainfall across the region have left the Danube at record lows over the past week, forcing the shutdown of a reactor at Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear plant last week. The state-owned nuclear power plant accounts for about 20% of the country’s electricity generation when fully operational and uses river water to cool its reactors. The four barges were loaded with rock that Romania’s military blasted from the river this week using explosives near the Danube’s Bala Canal. Once submerged, the barges will create an underwater barrier to redirect the water down the river’s main channel and toward the Cernavoda plant. Speaking to local news channel Digi24, the plant’s director Romeo Urjan said Thursday the Danube’s water level had decreased about two centimeters (0.7 inches) from Wednesday to Thursday and that, without sinking the barges, the plant’s second reactor would likely have to be shut down in five to six days. “If the installed barges bring surplus water ... instead of five to six days, we will talk about nine to 10 days of operation from today onward,” he said. He added that the impact of the barges being submerged could take about a day to reach Cernavoda, since it’s located around 60 kilometers (37 miles) downstream. Authorities have implemented a series of emergency measures since the first reactor shut down, including dredging of the river. The Danube’s water flow has fallen to its lowest in decades this week at 1,400 cubic meters per second in Romania, less than a third of what is typical for this time of year. Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced a nationwide state of alert in the energy sector on Jul. 31. He appealed to citizens and local authorities again on Thursday to voluntarily limit electricity usage in peak evening hours, and said that the sinking of the barges would likely last till Friday. Bolojan said after a government meeting that the works carried out so far aim to maintain a flow even if the Danube levels are forecast to be low, focusing on maintaining water flowing so that the second reactor can operate “at maximum capacity.” He added that Romania could face potential energy shortfalls if the Cernavoda plant is taken completely offline, adding that it could depend on whether energy could be imported during peak evening hours from neighboring countries, many of which are dealing with their own shutdowns amid the drought. In neighboring Hungary, the Danube’s record-low levels have pushed the country's only nuclear power plant to the brink of powering down entirely for the first time in decades. In Moldova, which relies heavily on imported electricity, including from Romania, the authorities have urged citizens to voluntarily reduce usage during peak hours. — McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

Romania declared a nationwide state of emergency for the entire month of August due to a drop in electricity production after water levels on the Danube fell to record lows, which led to the shutdown of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant. Romania is diverting cooling water from the Danube to its nuclear reactor. ANTD.VN - the Romanian Navy carried out a controlled detonation to divert vital cooling water from the Danube, which is suffering from drought, to another operating reactor remaining in the country. According to Adverul newspaper, the Romanian forces used 180 kilograms of explosives in a controlled blast to remove a large rock that was obstructing the flow of the Danube. Romanian Defense Minister Romo (Radu Mirota) said on Monday (August 3): 'Any day after Wednesday or Thursday when the power plant is running is beneficial; one day of operation is three times more effective than the cost of this operation.' Experts say the controlled blast will allow Romanian authorities to build a temporary dam and divert more water to the water channel feeding the remaining reactor at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant. Romania is increasingly relying on expensive electricity imports as demand rises with higher temperatures. This unprecedented move underscores the scale of the crisis in Europe, where heat waves and drought have lowered river levels, raising concerns about water supplies, inland navigation, and power production.

The Romanian army blew up a rock on a tributary of the Danube in an attempt to increase the flow of cooling water to the Cernavodă nuclear power plant, as a sharp drop in water levels has raised the risk of its shutdown. The Cernavodă plant, which wholly relies on the Danube for cooling water, faces danger due to the sharp decline in water levels caused by the drought. According to German news agency DPA, soldiers detonated the rock on a Danube tributary near the village of Izavorile, about 50 kilometers from the plant. The rock shattered as the water level fell. Authorities said fragments of the rock would be transported by cargo ships in the next two days and dumped at a designated site to raise water levels, thereby redirecting more water to the plant in eastern Romania. Defense Minister Răzvan Muñoţă described the blasting operation as successful, expressing hope that the operation would ultimately provide a sufficient amount of water to keep the plant running. He added that the project would improve navigation on the Danube, noting that the army had tried to remove the rock for thirty years without success. Muñoţa said that if partial diversion of the river channel fails, the plant would have to be shut down entirely. One reactor at the Cernavodă nuclear plant was stopped last week due to cooling water shortages. Authorities had considered shutting down the second reactor but preferred instead to transfer more water from the Danube. The river currently carries about a third of its usual seasonal flow, and water levels are expected to drop further in the coming days. The Cernavodă nuclear power plant currently produces about 10 million MWh of electricity annually, covering roughly 20% of Romania’s electricity needs.

Romania sank four barges loaded with rocks in the Danube today (Thursday) in an attempt to redirect the water toward the river’s main channel near a nuclear power plant, to buy more time before the likely drop in water levels forces its second reactor to shut down due to record lows. Severe heat waves and low rainfall across the region have caused the Danube River’s water levels to reach record lows over the past week, prompting authorities to shut down one of the reactors at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant in Romania last week. The state-owned power plant provides about 20% of the country’s electricity generation when operating at full capacity and relies on river water to cool its reactors. The four barges were loaded with rocks that the Romanian army detonated at the riverbed this week using explosives near the Bala Channel in the Danube River. Once submerged, the barges will act as an underwater barrier to divert the water flow into the main channel of the Danube River, and then toward the Cernavodă plant.