▲ The Danube River showing exposed riverbeds in a region of Romania
Romania, facing an emergency in securing cooling water for its nuclear power plant due to extreme drought, intentionally sank barges into the Danube River to redirect the water flow.
On the 6th local time, Romania commenced operations to successively sink four barges into the Danube River.
The plan is to build a blocking structure on the riverbed using the barges to guide the water flow toward the nuclear power plant.
The power plant operator expects that if the barge-sinking operation achieves its intended effect, the nuclear reactors can continue operating for another 9 to 10 days.
The discharge of the Danube River along the Romanian section hit a record low of 1,400 cubic meters per second on this day.
This is about one-third of the average discharge for August.
On the 3rd, Romania even blasted rocks in the Danube River to alter the water flow.
As the Danube River has dried up, Romania has already suspended the operation of one of the two Cernavoda nuclear reactors.
The Cernavoda nuclear power plant accounts for approximately 20 percent of Romania's total electricity production.
The Danube River is one of Europe's largest rivers, passing through 10 countries from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea.
Due to persistent drought, it is showing record low water levels across most sections.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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