Low levels in Danube – nuclear power plants shut down

 

TT-AFP

 

Published 22:24

  

A man navigates his boat after water levels have dropped in the Danube River in Novi Sad, Serbia, July 29. Photo: Darko Vojinovic/AP/TT

The heat wave that has hit several European countries is also hitting rivers hard. The Danube’s water levels are now so low that nuclear power plants in Romania are temporarily shutting down.

Several power plants along the long river use the water to cool their reactors, but as the water recedes, nuclear power plants in both Romania and Hungary have reduced capacity and hydropower plants in Serbia have been affected.

The Romanian government has asked the population to save electricity so that the country does not have to increase energy imports and use of natural gas.

In Serbia, temperatures are expected to rise to 40 degrees this week, and the heat could last for almost two weeks.

In Bezdan, near the border with Croatia and Hungary, the lowest water levels in over 50 years have already been measured, and if they drop even further, the water shortage could threaten the agricultural supply.