Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Hungary’s only nuclear power plant will shut down for the first time in its history due to record-low water levels on the Danube River, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on July 31, adding that the plant may not come back online for several weeks as the river is expected to continue receding.
The Paks nuclear plant, located around 90 kilometers south of the capital Budapest, is operating at less than half its normal capacity, producing 965 megawatts of power rather than the usual 2,000.
The plant uses water from the Danube to cool its reactors, but the exceptionally low water level has tested the ability of pumps to bring sufficient quantities into the plant. Magyar said further reductions in output were imminent later. He stressed that the shutdown poses no risk to the public or environment.
The Soviet-built, four-reactor plant at Paks accounts for nearly half of Hungary’s electricity production.
Hungary and much of Central Europe has been in a prolonged period of drought in recent months, disrupting tourism, agriculture and industry and confronting residents with the realities of climate change. Water levels are not expected to rise on the Danube in the coming days or even weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast. The Danube’s water level has only risen on three occasions in the month of August in the last 20 years.
