LONDON — As Europe endures a relentless heat wave, the Danube's historic lows are disrupting nuclear power operations and revealing the far-reaching impacts of the continent's climate crisis.Hungary came close to a forced shutdown of its only nuclear power plant overnight, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on Tuesday morning, as low water levels in the Danube river threaten the country's energy supply."Around 1:30 a.m.we were a few millimeters away from completely shutting down the Paks Power Plant, but then the water level stopped falling and by morning it had risen 1.5 centimeters.
The last turbine is currently operating safely," Magyar said.On Monday, Romanian authorities conducted a controlled explosion in the river to redirect cooling water to its sole operational nuclear plant, in images captured by AFP.Low water levels had already forced Romania to close two nuclear reactors.A nuclear power plant in Bulgaria has so far not reduced its capacity, despite low water levels in the Danube.
However, last week, a cruise ship in Bulgaria was forced to evacuate almost 200 tourists after it went aground near the port city of Vidin, according to the Associated Press.The Danube's retreat has also exposed World War II relics.In Serbia, drought has brought dozens of Nazi-era German warships, scuttled during the 1944 retreat, back into view — a stark reminder of how dramatically the river has receded.Weeks of hot weather have led to ideal conditions for wildfires in Europe, which have been particularly destructive in Greece in recent days.In the region of Western Attica, close to Athens, firefighters aimed to take advantage of a break in high winds to control a fire that has been burning since last week.
On Monday, the flames had jumped containment lines to stop the fire from spreading.Greek state media outlet ERT News reported on Tuesday morning that over 500 firefighters were tackling the blaze, including multiple helicopters.
Fire department deputy spokesman Yian...