Romania is blasting rocks in the Danube to supply water to the nuclear power plant in Cernavodă
The Romanian Ministry of Defense has begun blasting operations on the Danube to divert part of the river’s flow to ensure the water supply for the nuclear power plant in Cernavodă. The operation is scheduled to continue on Monday, according to European Truth, citing Digi 24.
Deputy Commander of the Romanian Navy, Rear Admiral Marcel Neculae, stated that after the first two explosions, the military expected to destroy the rock, but the rock turned out to be harder than anticipated. Navy divers are to assess the results of the work carried out, after which the blasting will resume with a gradual increase in the power of the charges.
The Romanian Ministry of Defense noted that more than 100 military personnel and 16 pieces of equipment participated in Sunday’s operation. Initially, combat divers conducted tests with small explosive charges, and later planned controlled blasting operations using more powerful charges.
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The goal of the work is to divert part of the flow from the Bala branch to the Old Danube branch in order to ensure the necessary water supply to the Chernavoda Nuclear Power Plant. Romania’s Water Resources Agency described the operation as extremely complex and warned that it might not succeed.
The need for these measures arose amid a sharp drop in the Danube’s water level, which in Romania has fallen to its lowest point in 30 years. On July 28, the country shut down one reactor at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant due to low water levels caused by the drought. On July 31, Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu discussed with her Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga ways to ensure electricity supplies from Ukraine, taking into account the country’s generation capacity and maintenance schedule.
