Romania used 180 kilograms of explosives to divert Danube water toward its Cernavodǎ nuclear plant on Monday as record-low water levels pushed power facilities across Central and Eastern Europe to the brink of shutdown amid a severe regional drought and extreme heat wave.
Persistent drought and successive extreme heat waves have deprived the Danube River of water, driving levels in Budapest down to roughly 10 centimeters on Monday—well beneath the previous all-time low of 33 centimeters set in 2018, AP News reported. With no significant rainfall forecast and daytime highs topping 38 degrees Celsius, electricity and water consumption are surging across the region.
Explosive Blasts and Canal Redirection at Romania’s Cernavodǎ Plant
The blast removed a large rock restricting water flow, allowing authorities to build a temporary dam and divert vital cooling water into the channel serving the state-owned Cernavodǎ nuclear power station.
“Any day past Wednesday or Thursday that the nuclear power plant functions is a gain,” Romania’s defence minister, Radu Miruțǎ, said on Monday. “A day of it functioning is three times more efficient than the costs of this operation.”
Radu Miruțǎ, Romania’s defence minister
Romania has declared a nationwide state of emergency throughout August stemming from a decline in electricity production. The Danube’s water flow in Romania has plummeted to 1,500 cubic meters per second, AP News reported, which amounts to less than a third of its typical July average. Authorities have already shut down one reactor unit at Cernavodǎ.
Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Station Faces Unprecedented Shutdown
In Hungary, the 44-year-old Paks nuclear power plant—which relies on Danube water for cooling and normally supplies nearly half of the nation’s electricity—was operating at a severely reduced capacity of just 240 megawatts on Monday, down from its usual 2,000 megawatts. Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced via Facebook video that engineering efforts successfully kept the final operating turbine running temporarily, avoiding a complete shutdown on the weekend.
“This is very good news, because the complete shutdown of the Paks power plant can still be avoided, at least temporarily, on one of the biggest consumption days.”
Péter Magyar, Hungarian Prime Minister
While the temporary reprieve kept the last turbine running, a full shutdown is expected next week, with the closure potentially lasting several weeks due to shallow river levels. The energy deficit has forced Budapest to lean heavily on regional electricity imports and renewable sources.
Mandatory Conservation Decrees and Industrial Cutbacks
To prevent grid failure, governments have implemented strict energy-saving measures across the affected countries. Hungary issued a decree allowing voluntary conservation measures for large industrial and commercial consumers to be made mandatory, AP News reported. Officials also barred electric-powered freight trains from running during peak hours beginning Monday to save between 70 and 90 megawatt-hours daily.
Prime Minister Magyar noted that voluntary public cuts reduced electricity demand by 700 megawatts on Sunday. In Romania, automakers Dacia and Ford entered maintenance and halted production until August 19 after discussions with Ilie Bolojan.
Serbia’s Hydroelectric Strain and Regional Infrastructure Disruption
Neighboring Serbia is confronting parallel disruptions as record-low Danube levels force the country’s primary hydroelectric plant to operate at just 20% of capacity. Prime Minister Djuro Macut convened an emergency meeting on Monday to address the growing power crisis, AP News reported.
Across the ten countries through which the Danube passes, the severe drop in water levels has exposed riverbed obstacles, including rocks, shipwrecks, a Second World War bomb, and even prehistoric woolly mammoth bones discovered by a local resident in northern Bulgaria.
Grid Strain and the Unresolved Peak-Demand Threat
With regional temperatures remaining high and no significant rainfall predicted to replenish the river system in the coming weeks, energy officials face sustained pressure during peak consumption hours. While industrial cutbacks and public restraint have provided a short-term buffer, authorities have not clarified how long regional power grids can sustain imports if both Cernavodǎ and Paks remain offline simultaneously.
