Hungarian authorities have opened a sluice on the Ráckevei-Soroksári branch of the Danube at Dömsöd, releasing an additional 20 cubic metres of water per second into the main channel after the government began sinking barges to prop up the Paks nuclear power plant.
The extra flow from the tributary, about 50 kilometres south of Budapest, has already raised the river level by roughly two centimetres, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said. Pumping into the hulls of two cargo barges at Paks resumed on Monday morning to complete their controlled sinking and form a temporary underwater sill. Authorities warn Tuesday and Wednesday will be critical, with water levels forecast to drop another 14 to 15 centimetres before rain in Austrian catchment areas may bring relief from Thursday.
Construction of the permanent rock barrier between Paks and Dunaszentbenedek is accelerating, using an initial 35,000 cubic metres of stone before expanding to 110,000. The plant's output has fallen below 25 percent of normal capacity.