Combat engineers and divers of the Romanian Naval Forces have controlled-blasted an underwater rock formation located in the bed of the Danube River using 180 kilograms of explosives in order to increase the water flow to the Cernavoda NPP, the country’s only nuclear power plant.
Sea-news.az reports that due to the severe drought prevailing in Central and Southeastern Europe and the drop in the water level of the Danube River to a critical limit, “Nuclearelectrica,” the company operating the station, was forced to suspend the operation of one of its two power units due to risks arising in the reactors’ cooling system.
Radu Mirutse, acting Minister of Defense of Romania, stated that the main goal of the river/maritime operation carried out by engineering sappers is to regulate the water flow in the Bala branch of the river, clear the bed, and redirect the water directly into the Old Danube canal feeding the Cernavoda NPP. Thanks to this maritime operation involving more than 100 military personnel, the shutdown of the second reactor was prevented.
It should be noted that the Cernavoda NPP was designed in the 1980s by Canada’s “Atomic Energy of Canada Limited” and commissioned in 1996. Having two power units with a capacity of approximately 700 MW each, the facility meets about 20% of Romania’s electricity demand.
The record-low shallowing of the Danube not only poses a threat to the cooling systems of nuclear energy facilities in the region, but also creates serious obstacles to river-sea navigation and the movement of commercial vessels on the river.
