Romania Shuts Its Only Nuclear Plant as Record-Low Danube Levels Bite

Romania shut down the last operating reactor at its only nuclear power station on August 13 because drought-shrunken Danube water levels left too little water to cool it, BBC News reported. The second of two 706-megawatt reactors at Cernavodă was disconnected from the grid just before midday, removing about 20 percent of the country's electricity supply. "We do not foresee a restart within the next 10 days," plant director Romeo Urjan told AFP. Danube levels have fallen to their lowest in 30 years across several countries, and neighboring Hungary is straining to keep its Paks plant running.

A Continent on the Brink

The shutdown is part of a broader heat-driven energy crisis: Energy Intelligence tallied heat-related curtailment at 26 European nuclear reactors totaling more than 10 gigawatts, with France also curtailing output at several EDF plants — one blocked by a mass of jellyfish washed up at its intake on the English Channel. Romania has declared a state of energy emergency through August. The economic toll is mounting too: Italy's Coldiretti estimates climate-related damage could exceed €3 billion, French Environment Minister Monique Barbut cited possible costs of €10-15 billion, and CNN reported the summer could cost Europe's economy €180 billion ($208 billion) as drought cuts hydropower, nuclear output and crop yields.