As the Danube’s water levels fall, power plants, cargo shipping and passenger vessels are feeling the effects
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Emergency engineering works are underway in the Danube in Hungary to prevent critically low river levels from shutting down the nation’s key nuclear power plant, which provides Hungary with more than one-third of its electricity.
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Due to extreme heat, the Danube has reached a record low this month – falling within 8 centimetres of its previous record low – impacting power production at the Paks nuclear plant. Typically, nuclear power plants are built near rivers and coastlines to use water to cool the reactors.
Two 80-metre (260-foot) barges in the river will be sunk by Hungarian authorities to raise water levels so that Paks can continue its normal operations. Currently, it is operating at just 25 per cent of its capacity.
The water is so low in the Danube that around twenty German World War II shipwrecks still containing live ordnance – sunk around eighty years ago – have surfaced on the riverbed.
‘European rivers are already sick,’ said conservationist at Riverwatch Ulrich Eichelmann. ‘This heat wave makes the damage more visible.’
According to the Hungarian government, plans to restore the water level of the Danube – Europe’s second-longest river – include building a submerged, dam-like structure in the riverbed known as a riverbed sill – a process that will take weeks.
Last week, neighbouring Romania shut down its last operating nuclear reactor due to low water levels in the Danube.
The record-low levels in the Danube are also posing challenges for Europe’s inland shipping system, potentially preventing commercial vessels from transporting cargo along it. Cargo vessels in Bulgaria are being either forced to wait or sail with reduced loads. In addition, the Danube is also a vital route into Romania for agricultural exports, as well as an alternative gateway for Ukrainian grain via the Romanian port of Constanta.
Ferry services and commercial vessels have been affected, particularly on the lower Danube, with passengers being moved overland when ships could not continue along their planned routes.
Elsewhere in Europe, low water levels on the Rhine are also affecting freight. At Kaub, a vital navigation point between Koblenza and Mainz, navigable water depth dropped to just 12 centimetres. The previous record was 25 centimetres during the 2018 drought. Germany depends heavily on the Rhine for moving oil products, coal, ores and chemicals.
