Overview
- Romania confirmed that both reactors at the Cernavodă plant were taken out of service because of very low Danube flows and Hungary has reduced output at Paks, a development national officials reported on Thursday.
- River navigation has been sharply curtailed with cruise ships rerouted to Rotterdam, at least one vessel grounding near Cetate on the Danube and barges forced to carry reduced loads that have driven freight rates sharply higher.
- Cities and regions have imposed water‑use limits and emergency measures, with Munich enforcing watering bans and some local authorities preparing water trucking and fines of up to €50,000 to protect drinking supplies and small waterways.
- Hydropower and utility operators report steep drops in generation—Austria's Verbund cited about a 30 percent shortfall from long‑term averages—and Cernavodă normally supplies roughly one‑fifth of Romania's electricity, raising short‑term grid pressure.
- Experts link the crisis to reduced snowmelt and repeated heatwaves, warn that aging locks and fairways need billions in upgrades, and say the Rhine–Danube corridor's fragility poses wider economic and military logistics risks.