Romania shut down its only nuclear plant Thursday, in a rare move due to drought that has caused the Danube river, whose waters cool the plant, to fall to record lows.

Much of Europe is facing a new summer heatwave amid a drought that has driven rivers to historic lows.

The Cernavoda plant, which usually generates a fifth of Romania's electricity, has been shut down just once before, in 2003, also due to drought.

The Nuclearelectrica company had already shut one of the plant's two 700 megawatt (MW) reactors last month, and announced Thursday that it needed to shut the second "due to the significant and ongoing drop in the water level of the River Danube."

"We do not foresee a restart within the next 10 days," plant director, Romeo Urjan, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

To avert a complete shutdown of the reactors, the nuclear company had budgeted more than two million euros ($2.3 million) to divert the Danube's flow to maintain the cooling of the reactors, including blowing up a rock and sinking four barges filled with rocks into the river.

Alternative power sources, including wind power as well as electricity imports, are expected to ensure adequate supplies, the Energy Ministry said Wednesday.

But it also reiterated an appeal for "responsible consumption."

It has warned that as a last resort, large industrial users would have to face restrictions in the evening hours to save electricity.

In early August, the government said carmakers Dacia and Ford would pause production in the country until Aug. 19 to help with the power deficit.

Nearly two-thirds of the Danube has seen flow rates that are the lowest on record for a month of July in 34 years, according to an analysis published Monday by the European climate change observatory Copernicus.

The drought has hit nuclear power providers across Europe.

An aerial view shows a dried-out river bed of the Danube in Rasova village, Romania, Aug. 3, 2026. (AFP Photo)

France, which uses nuclear power to generate around 70% of its electricity, recorded a more than 20% shortfall in atomic production capacity this week, a record deficit caused by outages linked to drought, extreme heat and a jellyfish invasion, according to AFP calculations based on EDF data.

In total, 13 of the 57 reactors in EDF's nuclear fleet were affected.

The drought in Europe has been exacerbated by human-induced climate change, according to the World Weather Attribution group of scientists, who warn that the problem will worsen.

Hungary, neighboring Romania, has avoided a complete shutdown of its only nuclear plant, Paks, whose four reactors are also cooled by the Danube. Only two of eight turbines at the plant are still working.

Nine days ago, Paks was on the verge of being completely shut down. The continued operation of the last turbine hinged on just a few millimeters of fluctuation in the Danube's water level.

But with the river expected to drop further, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Wednesday that the government had ordered the construction of a submerged wall, or weir, to try to control flows near the plant.

Two 80-meter (260 feet) barges are also being stationed at Paks that could be sunk to raise the water level.

According to Magyar, Hungarian soldiers were working around the clock on the construction, which should be completed in the next four weeks. This is expected to raise the Danube's water level by 1.2 meters in front of the cooling system of the plant.

The prime minister estimated the cost at 6 billion forints ($19 million).

The low levels of the Danube, Europe's second-longest river, have also severely impacted shipping along its 2,850-kilometer (1,770-mile) route stretching from western Germany to its mouth on the Black Sea.