Romania has shut down both reactors at its only nuclear power plant after severe drought drove the Danube river to record-low water levels, raising immediate concerns about electricity supplies across the region. The Cernavodă plant, located in southeastern Romania, normally provides around 20% of the country's electricity through two 706-megawatt reactors, both of which are now offline. Plant director Romeo Urjan said a restart was not expected within the next 10 days.

The Danube, Europe's second-longest river at 2,850 kilometres, is used to cool the Cernavodă reactors, and the dramatic fall in water levels left the plant's cooling system unable to function adequately. The first reactor was shut down in late July; the second followed on Thursday after what the operator, Nuclearelectrica, described as a "significant and ongoing drop" in river levels. Nearly two-thirds of the Danube has recorded the lowest flow rates for a July in 34 years, according to the European climate change observatory Copernicus. Romania had previously only shut the plant once before, in 2003.

The closure carries immediate regional consequences. Moldova, Romania's eastern neighbour, relies on Romanian power to cover up to 60% of its electricity shortages, and faces a difficult choice between sourcing more expensive power from western countries, turning to Ukraine if supply is available, or imposing rolling power cuts. "I think we should be ready for a worsening situation, including power outages," Moldovan energy expert Sergiu Tofilat warned. Romania itself has declared a state of energy emergency for August, urging households and businesses to reduce consumption during peak evening hours. More than 80 large industrial consumers have already cut production or brought forward maintenance, and carmakers Dacia and Ford paused Romanian production until 19 August. As a contingency, a 330-megawatt lignite-fired plant has been restarted and increased imports from Bulgaria and Ukraine are being prepared.

Romania is not alone in its nuclear difficulties. France, which generates roughly 70% of its electricity from nuclear power, recorded a more than 20% shortfall in atomic production capacity this week — a record deficit linked to drought, extreme heat and, unusually, a jellyfish invasion affecting water intakes, with 13 of EDF's 57 reactors affected. Hungary has so far avoided a full shutdown of its Soviet-era Paks plant on the Danube, but water levels there have dropped so low that suction nozzles used to draw in cooling water can barely reach the river. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has ordered construction of a submerged weir near Paks, and two barges are being stationed there and could be sunk to raise water levels locally.

The broader crisis reflects what scientists describe as the accelerating impact of human-induced climate change on Europe, the fastest-warming continent, heating at roughly twice the global average rate. Beyond energy, the drought has severely disrupted shipping along the Danube and the Rhine, damaged agriculture across the continent — Italy's largest farming association estimates climate-related losses could exceed €3 billion — and prompted warnings of significant economic costs for the EU as a whole. Energy analysts are cautioning against alarm over total blackouts in Romania, but acknowledge that heavier reliance on costlier imports is likely to push up electricity prices for consumers in the weeks ahead.