Romania detonates explosives to divert Danube water as drought shuts Hungary nuclear plant
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7 days · 7 summary articles
Record-low Danube River levels have forced Romania and Hungary to take emergency measures to protect nuclear power plants as a severe drought grips Eastern Europe.
Romania’s military detonated explosives near Izvoarele village on Monday to deepen a channel and divert water toward the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, where one of two reactors was already offline due to insufficient cooling water, according to AFP and The News . The operation aimed to secure water flow for the plant’s remaining operational reactor.
In Hungary, the Paks nuclear power plant, which normally supplies about 40% of the country’s electricity, was fully offline by Sunday after Danube levels dropped too low to sustain cooling systems, Reuters reported . Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said early Tuesday that water levels near Budapest had risen slightly—by 1.5 centimeters overnight—allowing the plant’s last turbine to operate safely for now .
The Danube’s shrinking water levels have also disrupted river transport, exposing Nazi-era shipwrecks in Serbia that now pose navigational hazards, according to Ground News . Authorities are assessing the wrecks for potential salvage and heritage management.
Across Europe, the drought has compounded energy strains. France has shut nuclear reactors to preserve river water, while Greece battles wildfires that have killed five people and forced evacuations near Athens . The UK recorded its driest July in nearly 200 years, with England and Wales officially in drought, the Met Office said .
The Rhine, another critical European waterway, has also hit near-record lows, with water levels at Kaub, Germany, forecast to drop to 24 centimeters this week—the lowest since 1880, according to German federal data cited by ETH Zurich . The 2018 drought forced BASF to reduce production at its Ludwigshafen complex due to shipping constraints; the company has since developed costlier alternative transport options, CFO Dirk Elvermann said .
Moldova has imposed energy-saving measures, including restricting elevator use and optimizing public lighting, as low water levels on the Dniester River strain its power supply .
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