In Romania, the Danube was subjected to a controlled explosion to direct water flow to the Nuclear Power Plant
In Romania, the army launched a large-scale military engineering operation on the Danube to save the Cernavodă nuclear power plant from shutdown. Due to extreme drought and a sharp drop in water levels, the NPP was threatened by a lack of water for reactor cooling.
To redirect the river flow towards the plant's water intake, sapper and diver teams on August 3 used 180 kilograms of explosives and were able to destroy the underwater Pârjoaia rock.
The first attempt, conducted the day before, ended unsuccessfully, but during the second blast, the rock mass was successfully broken off.
In the near future, a floating crane will remove the massive debris from the water, after which the military will sink four 70-meter barges filled with stones in this location.
Such an artificial dam will allow the main water flow to be directed to the desired side.
The water resources situation in the region is approaching the historical minimum of 1985. Due to a sharp reduction in electricity production, the Romanian government has already declared a state of emergency in the country for August.
A similar crisis has already affected neighboring Hungary, where the Paks NPP had to partially suspend operations due to a lack of water in the Danube.