[REVISION HISTORY]

Danube drought continues to impact Kozloduy NPP

Updated 7 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

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2026-08-31 19:28 UTC → 2026-09-03 06:21 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Danube drought ~~strains nuclear plant cooling~~ continues to impact Kozloduy NPP

Record‑low Danube water in late July 2026 limited cooling water for nuclear plants in the Balkans. Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria formed a working group, installed a shore‑based pump station and began automated monitoring, allowing both reactors to stay online. At the same time, Hungary’s Paks plant shut all four reactors, extending restart times, and Romania’s Cernavodă unit was taken offline. By early August, Bulgarian officials reported that Kozloduy continued to run at full scheduled output, with no throttling expected for weeks, while coordination with Serbia, Romania and regional electricity operators aimed to preserve system security. On 3 August, Energy Minister Iva Petrova confirmed that Kozloduy’s uninterrupted operation was now supported by recent upgrades to the pump station, water channels and hydraulic structures, and by ongoing river‑level monitoring. The same drought forced the shutdown of Hungary’s Paks plant and one unit at Cernavodă. Serbia’s mining and energy minister described the Danube water‑level problem as “extremely complex” but said electricity supply remained stable, noting that reduced cooling capacity also pressures thermal and hydro‑electric stations across the region. By 20 August, the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy announced that Kozloduy would reduce power output as a preventive measure to ‘guarantee safe operation.’ One of the plant’s two active reactors will reduce capacity by approximately 120 megawatts due to critically low river levels. This marks the first time in the plant’s 52-year history that extreme hydrological conditions have necessitated a reduction in capacity. On 23 August, Energy Minister Iva Petrova stated that while the situation was extreme, there was no immediate risk to the national electricity supply. To mitigate the crisis, the Bulgarian government considered constructing a dam, potentially 250 to 300 meters in length, to maintain water levels. Experts warned that a further 50-centimeter drop could necessitate even greater output reductions.

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