Romania uses explosives to divert Danube water as drought hits nuclear plant

Europe’s brutal heatwave has already sparked record-breaking temperatures, deadly wildfires and mass evacuations.

Romania has detonated a rock outcrop in the drought-stricken Danube River to redirect crucial cooling water to its sole operational nuclear reactor.

The controlled blast set off by Romania’s navy sent a tower of water into the air – an extraordinary measure underlining the scale of the crisis in Europe, where heat and drought have lowered river levels and raised concerns about water ​supplies, river transport and power generation.

Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant was operating at about 10% of capacity because of a lack of cooling riverwater.