Key dredger halted after contract end, other works near Cernavodă continue
The primary dredging vessel for the Danube near Cernavodă stopped operating after its contract expired on August 30, while smaller equipment remains active.
The Danube’s water level fell this month, prompting urgent dredging to secure enough cooling water for the Cernavodă nuclear plant. The contract for the largest dredger, capable of moving 7-8,000 cubic metres of sediment per day, ended on August 30, and the machine was relocated to a site near Giurgiu, about 200 km away. Meanwhile, two smaller dredgers and a stone-dyke project continued, though progress has slowed.
Officials from the Prime Minister’s chancellery and the government have said they are reviewing data and will decide on further actions, but no formal government decision has been published. Funding requests have been made to the Ministry of Transport, yet no decree authorising continued dredging downstream has been issued.
Why it matters
The pause of the main dredger threatens the water supply needed to cool Cernavodă's nuclear reactors.
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