Romania sinks barges in Danube to keep nuclear plant operating amid low water levels
CNN reported that on 5 August, record-low water levels on the Danube and Rhine forced authorities to impose navigation limits and cut electricity generation at several nuclear plants, deepening concerns over regional power supplies. The crisis began on 29 July when a prolonged drought lowered the Danube to its lowest recorded level, halting cruise and cargo traffic and prompting the shutdown of reactor 2 at Hungary’s Paks plant and a reduction of output at Romania’s Cernavodă plant.
The exposed riverbed revealed the hulls of German warships scuttled in 1944, and Romanian forces later used explosives to clear a rock blocking water flow to the Cernavodă reactor. Similar low-water conditions affected the Rhine and Po rivers, prompting broader energy-saving measures across Central and Eastern Europe.
