According to Mediafax, citing Romania’s National Administration “Romanian Waters” (Apele Române, ANAR), the water level at Cernavoda reached -259 cm, just 3 cm above the operational limit of -262 cm. Falling below this threshold would affect the conditions required to pump cooling water for the plant.
The Danube’s flow at the point where it enters Romania has fallen below 1,200 cubic metres per second, roughly one-third of the multi-year average for this period, ANAR said in a statement on Saturday, October 10.
Supplementary water discharge in the Danube was already ordered.
To limit the further decline in water levels around Cernavoda, ANAR ordered a temporary increase of 20 cubic metres per second in the flow released from the Iezer reservoir between October 10 and 18, through the coordinated operation of reservoirs in the Mostiștea valley.
The intervention is being coordinated with controlled releases from the Izbiceni reservoirs on the Olt River and Mihăilești on the Argeș River. The aim is to increase the water reaching the Danube and limit the fall in levels in the Cernavoda sector.
“Under current conditions, ensuring the water resources necessary for the safe operation of the Cernavodă NPP represents a responsibility of national interest,” ANAR said.
More measures are being considered if water levels fall further.
Separately, Romania’s National Committee for Emergency Situations (CNSU) drafted an emergency decision on October 10 proposing a more extensive intervention to secure the water supply to Cernavoda, according to Profit.ro. The draft, which had not yet been adopted, envisages a temporary, modular barrier made from ballasted barges and pontoons across a section of approximately 170 metres of the canal supplying the plant, alongside high-capacity pumping systems.
The pumps would be designed to transfer at least 6.5 cubic metres of water per second into the plant’s water-distribution basin. Their deployment would involve Apele Române, Nuclearelectrica, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and the National Company for the Administration of Navigable Canals.
The draft sets a water-level threshold of 1.58 metres above the Black Sea datum (dMB) as a preventive trigger for mobilising hydraulic and logistical measures. It explicitly states that this threshold would not change the plant’s authorised operating limits, operating conditions or nuclear-safety requirements.
The proposed intervention would remain in place until forecasts indicate a sustained recovery in water levels, measurements confirm that the plant has moved out of the critical range, and natural inflows and reservoir-management measures can maintain the water supply without pumping.
Nuclearelectrica said both reactors remain in a safe shutdown state and that the situation poses no risk to nuclear safety. The plant has multiple cooling systems designed to operate at different cooling-water levels. The measures taken by the authorities are intended to preserve redundancy in the cooling systems, particularly by protecting the pumps.
Energy Ministry Secretary of State Cristian Bușoi said on October 6 that the two reactors would not be restarted within the following ten days.
Unit 1 was shut down in a controlled manner on July 28, while Unit 2 was shut down on August 13, amid severe drought and exceptionally low Danube levels.