Romania’s Ministry of Energy has announced that the restart sequence for Unit 2 of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant was initiated on Monday, November 9, 2026, at 00:42. The reactor is expected to return to operation on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
Unit 2 of the Cernavodă plant was taken offline in a controlled shutdown on August 13, 2026, due to a significant drop in the Danube River’s water level amid a severe hydrological drought. Unit 1 had been shut down earlier, at the end of July, temporarily leaving Romania without nuclear power generation.
Mihai Gioară, CEO of Nuclearelectrica: “Starting November 11, 2026, CNE Cernavodă will operate both nuclear units, thereby supporting to ensure approximately 20% of Romania’s energy needs.
Nuclear energy is and remains a strategic energy source for ensuring Romania’s energy security and the stability of the power system. I would like to thank, once again, the teams of professionals at CNE Cernavodă for observing all safety conditions during the period when the units were maintained in a safe shutdown state.”
Nuclearelectrica announced that Unit 1 was resynchronised with the National Power Grid on Friday afternoon, November 6, 2026, after the restart procedures began on November 4. According to the company, all operations were carried out in compliance with applicable procedures and had no impact on nuclear safety, plant personnel or the population.
On Saturday, November 7, Prime Minister Luca Niculescu visited the Cernavodă plant alongside Energy Minister Dumitru Chisăliță. During the visit, he announced that Unit 1 was operating at approximately 50% of its capacity and was expected to reach full capacity within the following 24 hours.
“Unit 1 has been restarted. I was in the control room alongside my colleagues and saw how electricity generation increased hour by hour. We are currently operating at 50% of Unit 1’s capacity, and within the next 24 hours, its electricity generation capacity will reach 100%,” the Prime Minister said, according to Financial Intelligence.
The head of government stressed that the restart of Unit 1, which accounts for approximately 8% of Romania’s electricity production, helps ease pressure on the National Power Grid and reduce the need for electricity imports, particularly during peak demand periods.