Romania rushes to sink 4 barges in the Danube to keep a nuclear power plant's second reactor running

Extreme heatwaves and low rainfall across the region have left the Danube at record lows over the past week.

Romania delays effort to divert Danube water to nuclear reactor as shutdown looms  Reuters

Romania is racing to sink four barges into the Danube River to redirect water toward a nuclear power plant

Romania is racing to sink four barges into the Danube River to redirect water toward a nuclear power plant

Romania rushes to sink 4 barges in the Danube to keep a nuclear power plant's second reactor running  AP News

Hungary's only nuclear plant, which relies on water from the Danube River, could be forced to close amid a drought. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio reports.

06 August 2026 Romanian authorities resumed operations for the sinking of four rock-filled barges to increase the flow of the Danube toward the Cernavodă Power Plant on Thursday, August 6. Scheduled for a day earlier, the sinking was postponed because of strong currents. After they were filled, the four barges were ali

These actions are a sobering glimpse into the future and one that suddenly feels far less unreal

According to Péter Magyar, the water level has already climbed several centimetres above the critical threshold.

Romanian naval forces blew up part of the drought-hit Danube river.

Europe's nuclear fleet hopes to dodge summer shutdowns  euractiv.com

The cooling of Hungary and Romania’s nuclear power plants by pumping water directly from the Danube to chill the reactors makes them particularly vulnerable to drought, unlike the plant in Slovenia.

Water levels in the River Danube, which flows through ten countries from Germany to the Black Sea, have dropped to just 23 centimetres in Budapest as severe drought grips central Europe.

Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant was operating at about 10% of capacity because of a lack of cooling riverwater. In Romania, the military blew up a rock outcrop in a bid to improve water flow to the Cernavoda plant.

Romania's military detonated part of the Danube riverbed to redirect water towards the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant.

Europe’s brutal heatwave has already sparked record-breaking temperatures, deadly wildfires and mass evacuations. Now a new crisis looms: an energy shortage

Hungary’s only nuclear plant on brink of shutdown as Europe heatwave threatens energy crisis  CNN