Romania rushes to sink 4 barges in the Danube to keep a nuclear power plant’s second reactor running

On Thursday, Romania rushed to sink four rock-laden barges into the Danube River in an urgent effort to redirect water downstream. The operation is aimed at keeping the second reactor of a nuclear power plant running as the region faces extreme heatwaves and low rainfall.

Over the past week, these severe weather conditions have caused the Danube River to drop to record-low levels. The emergency intervention is designed to buy more time for the facility before the reactor is potentially forced to shut down.