Romania races to divert Danube water to nuclear reactor as shutdown looms

Romania was racing against time to sink four rock-filled barges into the Danube ​on Thursday in an attempt to divert water from the drought-hit river to its only working nuclear reactor and buy a few more days of operation amid tight electricity supply.

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 5-7 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.

The state water management agency said it would begin controlled submersion of the four barges one at a time, 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. – Reuters