An incident at the plant’s conventional block forced the shutdown of Unit 1, which was already generating electricity, while a sudden drop in the Danube level put preparations for restarting Unit 2 on hold.
In principle, an incident at the plant’s conventional block should not require a lengthy intervention, and such incidents have been reported repeatedly in the past. Nuclearelectrica has not confirmed whether the Danube level would allow Unit 1 to restart quickly, although this should be possible according to previous projections.
Nuclearelectrica announced that both units would resume electricity generation “as soon as possible”. The plant’s experts are working simultaneously to restart Units 1 and 2 and reconnect them to the National Power System.
The remedial work is being carried out in accordance with the applicable procedures at Cernavodă NPP, without any impact on nuclear safety, personnel or the environment, the company also announced.
Nuclearelectrica will report any developments in accordance with the requirements applicable to a publicly listed company.
Effective December 1, 2026, the technical director of Cernavodă NPP will be replaced, Nuclearelectrica also announced. The root cause of the incident will be addressed in a subsequent report.
Romania was left without nuclear power generation at Cernavodă after Unit 1 was shut down at the end of July and Unit 2 was shut down on August 13, due to the low flow of the Danube.
The two reactors, with a combined capacity of approximately 1,400 MW, provided around 20% of electricity consumption during peak periods. Under these conditions, the national energy system relied on wind power, hydropower, and imports.
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