Romania sank a second rock-filled barge into the Danube early Saturday, advancing an emergency effort to redirect water toward the Cernavoda nuclear power plant after extreme heat and drought pushed the river to its lowest flow in decades.
The overnight operation took 11 hours and placed the vessel roughly 500 meters from the entrance to the Bala branch, joining a first barge already on the riverbed. Two more barges are scheduled to be sunk Saturday upstream in an oblique configuration to steer current toward the plant’s intake. The Danube’s flow remains stationary around 1,400 cubic meters per second, and water levels at Cernavoda fell another four centimeters Friday to 222 cm, with only slight stabilization expected from Tuesday.
Defense Minister Radu Miruță said each day the plant continues operating is a gain. The facility provides about 20% of Romania’s electricity when fully operational.