The flow of the Danube, one of Europe’s largest rivers and the most important one in Romania, will remain steady over the next three days, at 1,350 cubic meters per second in the Romanian section.
Afterwards, the flow will decrease slightly until October 8, to 1,250 cubic meters per second, according to Agerpres.
Downstream from the Iron Gates, the natural border between Romania to the north and Serbia to the south, flows will generally decrease, except for the first two days of the forecast period, when they will remain relatively steady along the Brăila–Tulcea sector.
The Danube’s flows, which reached their lowest levels in history this summer, led to the shutdown of the two reactors at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant. The river water is paramount for the cooling process of the reactors, and the plant cannot be safely operated without an appropriate level of water.
The two units together provide nearly 20% of the national electricity consumption from the grid and are the largest generating units in Romania, with 680 MW each.
No date has been announced for restarting the nuclear power plant, as it all depends on the flow of the Danube.
In the meantime, Romania is forced to import energy to compensate for the loss of power, especially in the evenings.
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