BUCHAREST: Romania will begin shutting down its only nuclear power plant on Thursday after the Danube’s flow fell to a record low this week and efforts to avert a complete shutdown failed, the government said on Wednesday.
It will be the plant’s first shutdown since a 2003 drought, as unprecedented heatwaves and rain shortages across Europe this year have caused the level of the Danube — whose waters help cool the plant — to plummet.
“Unit 2 of Cernavoda NPP (nuclear power plant) will be shut down in a controlled manner starting tomorrow, in the context of the current hydrological conditions,” the energy ministry said in a statement.
Alternative sources, including from wind power generation, as well as imports, are expected to cover electricity supply, it said, reiterating an appeal for “responsible consumption.”
The plant, which usually generates a fifth of the Eastern European country’s total electricity, already shut down one of its two 700MW nuclear reactors at the end of last month.
