The Romanian Executive announced this Sunday that it will be able to continue operating, at least for another nine days, the second nuclear reactor of the Cernavoda plant, after recent controlled detonations and the sinking of four barges in the Danube have allowed the river level to rise several centimeters.
"This morning the first measurement was made after the sinking of the barges in the Danube and the dredging of the sandbanks; although yesterday the water level had dropped three centimeters, this morning in Cernavoda an increase of four centimeters has been recorded in the last 24 hours," confirmed the acting Minister of Transport, Radu Miruta, on social media.
The Transport official detailed that this increase in flow will make it possible to "extend the operational capacity" of the second reactor for another nine days" after the first was stopped in a controlled manner at the end of July due to the lack of water resulting from the drought.
"This is a tangible result and I convey my gratitude to all those involved: to the Prime Minister for coordinating and supporting efforts to overcome each obstacle, to the National Administration of Romanian Waters (ANAR) for devising the solution, and to the Army and the Ministry of Transport for carrying it out," he pointed out.
In the same way, the minister acknowledged the effort of "the tugboats," which have worked "tirelessly" during these days. "In the face of a real problem, we do not need explanations of why things cannot be done; we need solutions and people to put them into practice," he concluded.
The increase in flow has been achieved after experts detonated 180 kilograms of explosives on a rock formation known as Parjoaia. Subsequently, the authorities deployed a complex operation to sink four barges loaded with the same rock fragments dislodged after the controlled explosion in the Bala arm.
The technicians were forced to delay the operation several times due to the strength of the Danube currents. The sinking of the first two vessels was completed between Friday night and Saturday morning, while the other two submerged early Saturday, according to various Romanian media reports.
The drop in water level in one of the largest rivers in Europe has put under pressure the energy security of several riparian States that depend on its flow to cool the nuclear plants located along its banks.