Risk of blackout: how hospitals could be affected if the power goes out

The shutdown of reactor 2 at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant has increased the risk of a nationwide blackout, placing pressure on hospitals to ensure their backup generators are ready to take over the electricity supply at any moment.

For patients, particularly those in a critical condition, a prolonged power outage would pose a serious risk. Intensive care units (ICUs), operating theatres, and medical equipment sustaining patients' vital functions all require a continuous power supply, and an extended outage could place enormous strain on hospitals' ability to operate normally in such critical wards.

In this context, hospitals are compelled to inspect and maintain their own generators in working order, so that in the event of a power cut, essential wards remain fully operational without interruption.