[Anchor]
Europe is suffering from severe water shortages due to heatwaves and droughts. A lack of cooling water for power plants is leading to an energy crisis.
Paris correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports.
[Reporter]
With a loud explosion, a column of water shoots up into the sky.
Debris scatters in all directions, landing in the middle of the river.
Yesterday afternoon, August 2, the Romanian Navy carried out a blasting operation to remove underwater rocks.
A total of 180 kilograms of explosives were used in the operation, which was conducted to clear a water channel for the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, which has been facing cooling water shortages due to extreme drought.
As water from the Danube River, which has been breaking record low water levels day after day, flowed away from the power plant, authorities had to blast the underwater bedrock blocking the channel.
Tomorrow, an underwater weir is scheduled to be urgently installed on the opposite side of the channel.
[Maricel Neculae / Deputy Chief of Staff, Romanian Navy: We hope to complete the underwater weir by Tuesday to achieve the desired effect, and we will carry out the weir construction work on the tributary.]
Romania has already suspended the operation of one reactor at the Cernavoda nuclear plant due to a lack of cooling water, and has declared a national state of emergency for the month of August due to a sharp decline in power generation.
Neighboring Hungary also announced that while it had planned to suspend operations at the Paks nuclear power plant, its largest nuclear plant, starting yesterday due to declining water levels in the Danube River, reductions in electricity consumption by businesses and citizens have allowed it to continue operating for another day or two.
The Paks nuclear plant accounts for 40% of Hungary's total electricity production, but it has been struggling to secure cooling water for power generation as the water level of the Danube River has dropped to one-third of its normal level.
The Rhine River, which runs through Germany, has also dropped to its lowest water level, reducing freight traffic through canals to one-third of its capacity.
Some analyses even suggest that this could lead to economic damage, reducing Germany's third-quarter GDP by up to 0.2 percentage points.
(Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin)
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