Bulgaria cuts nuclear power output as Danube levels hit record low
Friday 21st August 2026 on 13:15 in
Lithuania
Bulgaria will reduce nuclear power production because of critically low water levels in the Danube, LRT reported. The state-owned Kozloduy nuclear power plant will cut the output of one of its two operating reactors by about 120 megawatts on Friday.
The Energy Ministry said the reduction was prompted by an “unprecedented and critical” fall in the river’s water level and was needed to ensure the plant’s safe operation. Forecasts indicate that water levels in the Bulgarian section of the Danube will continue to decline.
Kozloduy uses Danube water for cooling and supplies more than one-third of Bulgaria’s electricity. The ministry said this was the first time in the plant’s 52-year history that its output had been reduced because of extreme weather and hydrological conditions.
Romania and Hungary have also recently cut nuclear power production because of the low water level in the Danube. Romania fully shut down the Cernavoda nuclear power plant on August 13. The plant normally generates one-fifth of the country’s electricity.
Hungary has been trying to prevent the complete shutdown of the Paks nuclear power plant, whose output has fallen sharply since the end of July. Authorities built a threshold across the riverbed and partly submerged two barges loaded with stones to raise the water level.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyaras said on Thursday that the plant would restart its turbines on Sunday and should return to full production next week.
Other European countries have also faced difficulties. Switzerland’s Beznau nuclear power plant was shut down in June because of high river temperatures, while France reduced the output of several reactors during a heatwave.
Kozloduy has two reactors, each with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. The ministry said the plant’s pumping station on the Danube bank had so far protected it from the need to reduce production.
Experts say human-caused climate change has intensified the drought in Europe and warn that the problem will worsen.