Romanian army carries out controlled explosion to divert water, help cool nuclear power plant
Meanwhile in Romania, the Romanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to divert a large volume of water to the Old Danube and the Cernavodă nuclear power plant to help with its cooling.
The Romanian Navy detonates underwater explosives during a controlled demolition of submerged rocks to improve water flow to the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant amid exceptionally low water levels on the Danube River, in Izvoarele, Romania. Photograph: Andreea Alexandru/AP
Some 180 kg of explosives were used today, Adevărul reported, to move a large rock restricting the flow of water.
Acting defence minister Radu Miruță hailed the operation as a success, saying it will help with cooling of the plant and water transport on the river.
Given the continuing extreme weather conditions, the Cernavodă plant may still have to temporarily suspend its operations at some point, but any extra day of its work is worth more than the cost of the explosion, he said.
It quotes “threats to public policy and internal security” and “the management of migration flows due to recent events in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, resulting from large-scale irregular entries of third-country nationals, with a risk of secondary movements within the Schengen area.”
(Just a reminder: that last bit is heavily contested as there is no free flow of people from Ceuta to the rest of the EU, with strict border controls for anyone leaving the territory for mainland Europe.)
It looks like the border control measures – which Italy said would only be carried in a “targeted” way and apply to third-country nationals travelling by air and sea – are expected to be in place for a month, until 1 September.
Hundreds of Greek firefighters continue to battle a wildfire northwest of Athens
Meanwhile, we have an update from Greece, as hundreds of Greek firefighters battle a wildfire northwest of Athens for a fourth day after blazes fanned by strong winds gutted homes, thousands of hectares of farmland and pine forests, and forced emergency evacuations by land and sea, Reuters reported.
Firefighters operate on Mount Kithairon near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece. Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP
Strong firefighting forces assisted by water tanks and 21 aircraft were deployed near the communities of Kandili and Agia Skepi early on Monday as plumes of thick black smoke and red flames engulfed lush pine forests, Reuters images showed.
To give you an idea about the challenge Romania and Hungary are facing, the Danube’s water flow has fallen to 1,500 cubic meters per second in Romania, less than a third of its July average.
An aerial view shows the splitting point of Danube with Bala branch (L) and Old Danube (R), the place where a controlled underwater explosion took place on the riverbed of the Danube River in Izvoarele village. Photograph: Daniel Mihăilescu/AFP/Getty Images
The backstory behind this explosion is that last Friday, Romania has declared a nationwide state of emergency throughout August stemming from a decline in electricity production after record low Danube river levels disrupted power generation.
The peak of the current heatwave is expected on Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures set to cross into 40s C and get close to all time records.
People walk on a bank of sand on the Danube River as usually submerged areas are exposed due to extreme low levels of the water following an extended period of drought in Oltenita, Romania. Photograph: Vadim Ghirdă/AP
Romanian army carries out controlled explosion to divert water, help cool nuclear power plant
Meanwhile in Romania, the Romanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to divert a large volume of water to the Old Danube and the Cernavodă nuclear power plant to help with its cooling.
The Romanian Navy detonates underwater explosives during a controlled demolition of submerged rocks to improve water flow to the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant amid exceptionally low water levels on the Danube River, in Izvoarele, Romania. Photograph: Andreea Alexandru/AP
Some 180 kg of explosives were used today, Adevărul reported, to move a large rock restricting the flow of water.
Acting defence minister Radu Miruță hailed the operation as a success, saying it will help with cooling of the plant and water transport on the river.
Given the continuing extreme weather conditions, the Cernavodă plant may still have to temporarily suspend its operations at some point, but any extra day of its work is worth more than the cost of the explosion, he said.
Record low water levels affect transport of goods, energy security
Record low water levels in Europe’s major rivers have curtailed the transport of goods, reduced electricity output and shrunk company earnings, stoking fears about the economic impact of searing heat and erratic rainfall, Reuters reported.
People walk on the exposed riverbed of the Danube River in Dunaszentbenedek, Hungary. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock
From the bustling port of Rotterdam to hydropower plants in Serbia, waterways have become a less reliable way to transport goods such as grains and oil, or to produce much-needed electricity when millions are seeking to cool their homes.
“It’s affecting not one region like we’ve seen in the past, but the whole European landscape,” said Alessandro Armenia, a power analyst at commodities data and analytics firm Kpler.
“Given the current dynamics, it means either we’re going to see blackouts or we need to invest way more.”
At Djerdap 1, Serbia’s largest hydropower plant, output has fallen to 20% of capacity, the plant’s production director Davor Maljoković told Reuters, as the once broad shipping channel beside it has shrunk to expose sandbanks and gravel bars.
The lack of water has also disrupted cooling systems at Serbia’s Kostolac coal-fired power plants, forcing them to cut output, Serbia’s state EPS power utility said.
Romania’s state nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica also had to shut one of its two reactors earlier this week for the same reason, with the second expected to soon follow.
Two helicopters collide outside Athens as Greece battles to control wildfires
Two firefighting helicopters have collided west of Athens on Sunday, killing the two-person crew of one of the aircraft, as efforts to control a massive wildfire barrelling towards the outskirts of the Greek capital intensified.
A fireman runs to extinguish a fire in an olive grove in the settlement of Zachouli, Greece. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters
Footage showed one of the helicopters losing control in the face of gale-force winds that have pushed flames towards settlements on Athens’ western fringes.
“The pilots … were taken unconscious to hospital, where their death was confirmed,” said the fire department’s director of communications, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said the two dead were a Dane and a Greek. The two crew members of the second helicopter were rescued.
Morning opening: South-eastern Europe braces for heatwave, energy crunch
Jakub Krupa
The latest heatwave seen in western Europe last week are now moving eastwards, with large parts of central and southern Europe set to experience extreme temperatures near 40C, and putting countries at risk of an energy crunch.
A municipal public space supervisor distributes bagged drinking water to pedestrians in a square during a heat wave in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Zsolt Szigetváry/EPA
Hungary was forced to shut down most of its sole nuclear power plant, which generates a large part of the country’s energy supply, for the first time in 44 years as the drying out of the Danube made it impossible to cool safely. The nuclear plant is expected to be completely powered down later this week as water levels on the Danube river are projected to fall further.
On Monday, many digital advertising screens will be turned off to save energy, as part of a broader push to seek savings wherever possible.
Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar warned on Monday that “the hardest five days are ahead.”
A view of the Paks nuclear power plant near Dunaszentbenedek. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock
Romania and Serbia also reported their lowest-ever water levels, causing issues with hydropower generation.
Budapest and Vienna will see temperatures of up to 37C today, with Zagreb at 36C, Tirana at 35C, and Bucharest at 33C, and these temperatures are expected to last for up to five days.
But that doesn’t mean it will be necessarily much cooler in the west, with 36C in Rome and 34C in Paris.
Elsewhere, I will keep an eye on the political fallout from the migration crisis in Ceuta last week, with EU ambassadors meeting this morning for what is likely to be a fierce discussion on what’s next ahead of tomorrow’s talks between interior ministers.