Hungary’s Nuclear Plant Avoids Shutdown as Water Level Expected to Stay High Enough
Emergency river works kept two turbines online and could restore the plant to full capacity by next week, officials said.
- On Thursday, Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced Paks avoided complete shutdown, with six idle turbines set to restart Sunday at midnight and full capacity expected by late next week.
- Historic drought pushed the Danube to record lows, forcing Paks—which generates nearly half of Hungary's electricity—to operate at just 25% capacity with only two of eight turbines running.
- Engineering work including two 80-metre barges and a submerged riverbed sill raised water levels by 10-15 centimetres, keeping the plant's two currently operating turbines online over the past two weeks.
- Avoiding production loss saves approximately EUR 137 million monthly in replacement electricity costs, while neighbouring Romania shut down its Cernavodă facility this month amid similar drought conditions.
- The crisis exposed vulnerability of Danube-dependent energy infrastructure during prolonged droughts, raising questions in Hungary and Romania about adapting atomic energy to increasingly extreme climate conditions.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar (Tisza) announced on Wednesday evening that the Paks nuclear power plant will not need to be shut down and that all turbines will be gradually switched on next week. Water managers and the army have built a weir at the plant, which has raised the level of the Danube, whose water is used to cool the reactors.
Hungary's nuclear plant avoids shutdown as water level expected to stay ...
Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant avoids further shutdown
Hungary has avoided another shutdown at the Paks nuclear power plant despite the Danube approaching a critical low, Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on Wednesday evening. The government now expects the plant to begin restoring additional capacity from Sunday and potentially return to full operation by the end of next week.Continue reading
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The bottom threshold is already effective, in a few days Paks will be able to produce 2,000 MW again - promises Péter Magyar.
The Paks nuclear power plant is expected to be able to operate at full capacity on Thursday next week, the Prime Minister announced on Wednesday evening. Péter Magyar said that the necessary water level was maintained, so none of the power plant's turbines need to be shut down, and on Sunday, specialists will begin to reconnect the six turbines that are currently shut down, as scheduled.
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