Romania to detonate Danube rock, sink barges to save Cernavodă nuclear plant

Danube at historic low

The Danube's flow at Romania's entry point has fallen below 1,600 cubic metres per second, far under the multi-annual average of 4,700 m³/s. The National Administration "Apele Române" projects a further drop to around 1,450 m³/s by 7 August, the worst hydrological situation in 40 years and close to the historic minimum of 1985. Sorin Rîndașu, deputy general director of Apele Române, said the water level is falling 2–3 cm per day and that Cernavodă can hold out "about 4–5 days at the limit." Reactor 1 was already shut down days ago; reactor 2 is still operating but at risk. Hungary is closing its own Danube nuclear plant completely on 2 August.

A drop of somewhere around 2-3 cm per day; under these conditions Cernavodă can hold out about 4-5 days at the limit.

Emergency government response

Interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, also serving as interim Energy Minister, announced on 31 July that authorities were evaluating solutions. The government allocated 7 million lei from the Reserve Fund for urgent interventions. This weekend, Army representatives and other institutions began dredging the Bala branch to redirect more water toward the Old Danube and the plant's intake canal. The River Administration is also trying to deepen the Old Danube bed by about one metre.

Everyone working in this area, from the navigable canals, Apele Române, the river structures of the Romanian Army, should ensure dredging. We are also analysing the possibility of sinking barges to direct the main flow toward this area.

Detonation and barge sinking

On Sunday, 2 August, military specialists will detonate the Pârjoaia rock, a large granite formation on the right bank of the Danube that disrupts water distribution toward Cernavodă. The blast is scheduled for around 11:30. Naval Forces representatives used a drone and a mobile laboratory on 1 August to measure depths and monitor flow in the Bala branch area. After the rock is removed, four barges, each 70 metres long and 3 metres high, loaded with raw stone, will be sunk in a controlled manner to block the Bala branch, which currently steals flow from the Old Danube. Cătălin Țigănuș, director of the state shipping company NAVROM, said the first two barges would depart on 1 August toward the Bala mouth with a dredging machine, and the next two would leave on 2 August for Isaccea to be loaded with stone.

The barges exist. The first two barges will leave today toward the Bala mouth with a convoy, together with a dredging machine. The next two barges will leave tomorrow for Isaccea, to be loaded with raw stone.

Long-term fix and future reactors

Bolojan also said the government intends to revive an older project to restore the Bala branch, calling it a priority regardless of the immediate crisis. The restoration is considered essential for the future operation of reactors 3 and 4 at Cernavodă. The cooling water supply channel for the existing reactors has not been cleaned for a long time, adding to the vulnerability.

Regardless of what happens these days, I consider this project a priority, which must be put into practice in the coming period.

Wider energy strain

The crisis is deepening Romania's energy supply pressure. The Ministry of Energy has called large industrial consumers to a meeting on Monday to find ways to save electricity during peak evening hours. Navigation on the Danube is severely restricted; on 29 July, a navigation advisory recommended using the Serbian channel because of low water and draft restrictions on the Cocoșu branch. Petre Ureche, head of the Navigation Safety Service, noted that the flow at Baziaș is 1,590 m³/s, well below the multi-annual average, and that ships cannot be loaded to full capacity. Earlier attempts to free barges and cruise ships stuck in sand in Dolj county failed.

At the entry into the Danube Delta in the country, on the Baziaș section, the recorded flow is 1,590 m³/s, far below the multi-annual average of 4,700 m³/s.