BUDAPEST/BUCHAREST, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Romania blew up a rock outcrop on Monday to help redirect vital cooling water from the drought-hit Danube river to its sole working nuclear reactor, an unprecedented measure underlining the scale of an energy crunch across the region.
In neighbouring Hungary, authorities said they might be able to eke out two more days of power from their only atomic plant, which has been hit by falling levels in the Danube that it also relies on as a coolant.
Heat and drought have lowered river levels across large parts of Europe, raising concerns about water supplies, river transport and power generation.
CAR PLANTS PAUSE PRODUCTION TO EASE PRESSURE
Both governments have asked people and companies to cut power use to ease demand. Car-making plants run in Romania by Renault-owned Dacia and Ford had agreed to halt production until August 19, voluntarily reducing power consumption by some 200 MW, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said.
"Drought-related difficulties are amplified by limited trans-border connections with central and western Europe," Bolojan said. "There is limited import capacity."
Romanian state-owned nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica, which normally generates a fifth of the country's electricity needs, had to shut down one of its two reactors early last week as river levels fell.
Monday's controlled explosion sent a tower of water and rubble into the air. Authorities said it would clear the way to build a temporary dam which would send more water to the river channel where the remaining Cernavoda reactor sits.
The work would finish on Wednesday, the navy said.
"Any day past Wednesday or Thursday that the nuclear power plant functions is a gain," Defence Minister Radu Miruta said. "A day of it functioning is three times more efficient than the costs of this operation."
HUNGARY GETS SMALL REPRIEVE
Further upstream, Hungary — which had earlier warned it might have to shut down its Paks nuclear plant as early as Sunday — said it could operate at its current reduced capacity until Monday or Tuesday, offering a small reprieve.
The 2-gigawatt Paks plant, which normally generates about half of the country's electricity, was running at just over 10% of its capacity on Monday after the Danube fell to a record low.
"Today, and maybe tomorrow the last turbine producing 240 megawatts can keep working," Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said.
"This is very good news, as the complete shutdown of the plant can be avoided on one of the days with the highest consumption," he added.
He later said forecasts of Danube water levels for the next few days had become "slightly more optimistic".
Voluntary cuts in power usage by households and companies, made after a government appeal, had reduced demand by 700 MW on Sunday, significantly easing pressure on the grid, the prime minister said.
Pharma company Richter said on Monday it would reduce its electricity consumption by more than 50% over the next three weeks, and offered a daily 4 MW of electricity produced by its solar energy park.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves in Budapest and Luiza Ilie in Bucharest;Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Heavens)
