The first phase of works to secure the raw water supply for the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant cost the Romanian state 12.1 million lei. Further intervention options are being prepared in light of historically low Danube water levels.

Far from complete, the work to secure the raw water supply for the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant is set to enter a new phase.

According to the Prime Minister’s Chancellery (Communication and Press Relations Directorate), the Lower Danube River Administration (AFDJ) in Galați carried out dredging operations—involving deepening and leveling the riverbed—in August at critical points: Caragheorghe–Turcescu (km 345–342) and Cochirleni (km 309–304), News.ro reports.

“The funding source for both operations is the Government’s budgetary reserve fund, as provided for in the state budget,” the Prime Minister’s Chancellery stated.

“Addressing the immediate situation requires a solution that can be mobilized within a few days. The operational measure prepared for this purpose is temporary, reversible, and phased; it has been technically discussed with the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, the Danube–Black Sea Canal operator, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), and the Ministry of National Defence (MApN),” the Prime Minister’s Chancellery added. In the long term, the structural solution envisaged for redistributing flow rates at the Bala–Old Danube bifurcation is the implementation of the BALA II project. Regarding this project, experts and public institution representatives consider it necessary to update the technical-economic indicators—originally adopted by the Government in 2024—so that the project’s implementation addresses the issues caused by the historically low flow rates recorded this year.