BUDAPEST TO SINK TWO BARGES NEAR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

BUDAPEST, AUGUST 14 /SRNA-Reuters/ - Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that the sinking of two barges will begin today in an effort to raise the water level of the Danube near the Paks nuclear power plant.

"The controlled sinking of the barges is expected to begin late this afternoon to raise the level of the Danube," Magyar said in a video posted on Facebook.

The Hungarian Government announced yesterday that it would build a riverbed sill, a dam-like transverse structure, to manage the flow of water. The work will take several weeks.

The Government also said that two 80-metre-long barges would be sunk near the nuclear power plant to temporarily raise the water level, allowing two of the plant's turbines to operate while the riverbed sill is being installed.

The sinking of the barges could temporarily raise the water level by 20 centimetres, while the riverbed sill is expected to raise it by up to one metre.

The plant is currently operating at around 25 percent of capacity due to a historic drought and record-low water levels in the Danube, from which the nuclear power plant draws its cooling water.

Neighbouring Romania shut down its last operating reactor yesterday, as drought this summer has wreaked havoc on European power generation, shipping and public health systems.

The drought has also raised questions in Hungary and Romania about how to adapt nuclear power to an increasingly extreme climate.